Situation report 31
Summary
- In Indonesia, medicines are beginning to be stockpiled in Aceh for epidemic-prone diseases.
- In Sri Lanka, the government has started to monitor water quality according to national standards.
- In Thailand, active disease surveillance by the Bureau of Epidemiology will continue for at least one more month in Phang Nga province. In other tsunami-affected regions, responsibility for disease surveillance will be resumed by provincial authorities.
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 | 6,898 | 5,551 | 10,872 |
| Indonesia | Aceh: Districts (14 out of 21); 1 mill. people | 172 sub-districts, 1550 villages, and 21,659 houses destroyed | 811,409 | 1,736 hospitalized | 127,749 | 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 | 82 | |
| 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) | 78,529 fully damaged houses/ 41, 097 partially damaged houses | 502,668 | 320 relief camps | 15,196 | 5,644 | 30,959 |
| Thailand | 6 provinces on west Thai coast | 6.85M Baht have been provided to assist victims | 47,708 rescue workers mobilized | 8,457 | 3,100 | 5,392 | |
| 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
- Indonesia: No outbreaks have been reported. Aceh now has an early warning system in place with 19 organizations regularly reporting to the Ministry of Health. One case of typhoid fever has been confirmed in a displaced persons camp in west Aceh. A joint Ministry of Health-WHO field investigation will begin as soon as possible. Another suspect case of typhoid fever is being investigated in Banda Aceh. More than 67 000 children in Aceh (47 percent) and 9 000 (20 percent) in Sumatra have been vaccinated in the ongoing measles vaccination campaign.
The WHO's office in Aceh reports that medicines are being stockpiled for potential outbreaks of epidemic-prone diseases in Banda Aceh. - Maldives: No outbreaks have been reported.
- Sri Lanka: No outbreaks have been reported. Health officers are being trained to further improve the disease surveillance system. The Regional Epidemiology unit of Kalmunai region, WHO and Médecins Sans Frontières Spain, have carried out a rapid assessment of the performance of the surveillance system implemented by the Ministry of Health.
- Thailand: No outbreaks have been reported. Disease surveillance reports from the Bureau of Epidemiology will now be weekly rather than daily. Active surveillance by the Bureau will continue for at least one more month in Phang Nga Province, while in other affected areas, responsibility for surveillance will return to provincial health authorities.
The Bureau of Epidemiology, Ministry of Public Health has been conducting active disease surveillance in the six provinces affected by the tsunami disaster. Disease surveillance was conducted in: 77 health centres, 22 state-run hospitals, 4 private hospitals, 14 temporary shelters for people affected by the disaster, and 2 body identification centres. A total of 22 surveillance teams have been operating since 26 December 2004.
Environmental Health (access to safe water and hygiene, sanitation situation)
- Indonesia: Water chlorination has been completed in almost 120 sites temporarily housing about 200,000 displaced people. Water samples have been sent for testing. WHO consultants are taking part in a joint assessment team addressing the relocation of displaced persons camps.
- Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka has begun monitoring water quality according to national standards. WHO and UNICEF are working with the Ministry of Health to prepare health promotion materials.
Health system and infrastructure (functioning health facilities, access)
- Indonesia: Half of Banda Aceh's health centres and approximately 25% of those in the rest of the affected areas are still not functional. Copies of the government’s rehabilitation policy will soon be circulated to all development partners.
- Sri Lanka: In Ampara, 90% of health centres are regularly reporting health information. A strong presence of health officials was also noted in the camps.
WHO Action & Country Information
Indonesia: At a one-day workshop in Jakarta, an Action Plan for health for the next six months was discussed with WHO, other UN agencies, NGOs, universities, and representatives of the private sector. The plan has not yet been finalized and will be further discussed next week.
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