Situation report 25
Summary
- There are no reports of disease outbreaks in the various affected areas however the conditions for such to occur remain
- In Sri Lanka, environmental health particularly adequate and safe water and sanitation issues remain a priority for the affected population
- In India, Aceh, Indonesia, Maldives and Sri Lanka, WHO continues to coordinate the various actors in the health sector
Situational updates
| Areas affected | Damage | Displaced | Relief | Injured | Missing | Deaths | |
| India | 2200 km of coastal land; 300m to 3 km inland and 3 million people | 897 villages, 157,393 dwelling units, 11,827 HA of cropped area, and 1.56B USD | 647,556 | 595 relief camps with 376,171 people. 638,297 people evacuated | 6,918 | 5,551 | 10,872 |
| Indonesia | Aceh: Districts (14 out of 21); 1 mill. people | 172 sub-districts, 1550 villages, and 21,659 houses destroyed | 452,845 | 1,736 hospitalized | 6,222 | 166,760 | |
| Malaysia | NW states of Penang and Kedah | 8,000 | 30,000 in 9 camps | 73 in-patient/ 694 outpatient | 6 | 68 | |
| Maldives | 20 atolls | 100,000 people affected | 10,578 | 1,313 | 26 | 83 | |
| Myanmar | 10-15,000 affected long-term. 5-7000 directly affected, 23 villages | 592 houses of 17 villages destroyed | 2,592 homeless/ households (537) | 43 | 3 | 61 | |
| Sri Lanka | Affected families (103,789), houses (103,753) | 78,199 fully damaged houses/ 40, 911 partially damaged houses | 403,245 | 404 relief camps | 15,196 | 5,637 | 30,955 |
| Thailand | 6 provinces on west Thai coast | 6.85M Baht have been provided to assist victims | 47,708 rescue workers mobilized | 8,457 | 3,141 | 5,373 | |
| Somalia | Puntland region worst-hit, 650 km of coastline | 600 families have lost properties. 2,600 fishing boats destroyed | Approx. 4,000 | Many sheltering under plastic sheeting or in branch huts | NA | NA | At least 150 |
Health Priorities
Communicable Diseases
- Thailand: There are no reports of disease outbreaks.
- Sri Lanka: There are no reports of disease outbreaks. WHO epidemiologist and health promotion specialist conducted a rapid epidemiological assessment of the largest IDP sites in Jaffna – Lourthumatha Kovil (population 1,131) on 17 January and Chithambara (population 1, 629) on 18 January 2005.
- India: There are no reports of disease outbreaks.
- Indonesia: Suspect cases of dengue have been reported in Krueng Raya, Aceh Besa, which the MoH / WHO team are investigating. A review of all tetanus cases is underway. In Meulaboh, a measles vaccination campaign is being carried out.
- Maldives: There are no reports of disease outbreaks.
Environmental Health (access to safe water and hygiene, sanitation situation)
- India: Water supplies have been restored to most affected areas but camps still require improvements in sanitation. A WHO collaborating centre (supported by WHO India) will provide technical support to improve water and environmental sanitation services for communities in two districts of Tamil Nadu, and Pondicherry which will include: environmental sanitation, solid waste management, drainage facilities and provision of safe drinking-water.
- Indonesia: A second visit to verify environmental health measures will take place on January 23, 2005.
- Sri Lanka: Environmental health concerns, particularly adequate water supply, sanitation, and health promotion, are the priorities identified and being addressed.
Other health issues (Mother and child health, mental health)
- Sri Lanka: A WHO team in Batticaloa is providing training on psycho-social issues.
- India: To date 766 people have received psycho-social training in Tamil Nadu including 100 teachers in Pondicherry and there have been psychosocial interventions in camps in Kerala.
- Thailand: WHO is completing a preliminary report assessing the mental health situation of people in tsunami-affected areas.
Health system and infrastructure (functioning health facilities, access)
- India: WHO is collaborating with UNICEF to help refine the format and mechanism used to asses existing health care system in affected areas.
- Indonesia: In Meulaboh at least four NGO’s are working in the district hospital and over US$5 million in donated equipment is expected to arrive. Two new field hospitals are also operational.
- Sri Lanka: A public health nurse/community health worker and a public health inspector visit the two largest IDP sites in Jaffna daily. Clinical care is provided several times per week at each site. However use of health care facilities is varied with one NGO reporting only a couple of patients on a recent visit while another had 75 to treat. The WHO field office in Galle has reported that 36 camps with a total population of 5,115 remain in the area and that health care and other services in the camps are considered to be sufficient.
WHO Action & Country Information
India: WHO continues to coordinate and support health action particularly in the areas of surveillance, environmental health; and psycho-social support.
Sri Lanka: In a meeting with the incoming Pfizer and UNICEF team it was agreed that the Pfizer logistic team will work as a joint UNICEF-WHO team to support the medical supply chain of the Ministry of Health, Government of Sri Lanka.
Through the Emergency Health Action Programme for South-East Asia, the financial requirements for WHO’s health response over the forthcoming six-months period is assessed at US$67 million. WHO thanks the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (cash) and the governments of Australia (cash), Canada (in kind), Denmark (in kind), Finland (cash), France (cash), Germany (in kind), Italy (in kind), Japan (cash), the Netherlands (cash), Norway (in kind), Poland (cash), Portugal (cash), Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (in cash), Sweden (in cash), Switzerland (in kind and in cash), the United Kingdom (DFID in cash and in kind), and the United States (USAID in cash) for recent and early contributions. Expressions of support from individuals around the world are overwhelming