Philippines battles to curb disease outbreaks
Source: AFP |
August 13, 2012, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
EMERGENCY relief officials and doctors deployed to flood devastated communities in the Philippines yesterday to prevent outbreaks of disease as the death toll jumped to 85.
While floods have gone down around the capital Manila, many areas in nearby provinces stayed inundated as overflowing dams continued to release water, the national disaster coordinating agency said.
"As the waters receded they left behind clogged pipelines and trash everywhere. Sanitation has emerged as a key problem," Red Cross secretary general Gwendolyn Pang said. "We have deployed health officers in evacuation centres and in flood-hit communities with the likelihood of diseases erupting."
The Red Cross put up huge rubber bladder tanks for clean water, while local officials sent portable latrines to packed evacuation centres.
Food packs were also rushed to some 769,999 people displaced by the floods that submerged about 80 percent of Manila last week.
Civil defense office head Benito Ramos said more than half were living in dire conditions in 948 evacuation centres, which are mostly schools and churches converted into temporary shelter areas.
"Many have returned to their homes as the waters subsided, but it is far from a normal situation," Ramos said. "We are trying to help them return to their normal lives with a massive clean-up operation. There is muck everywhere, and it would take some time."
The health department said water purification tablets were being distributed, while mass immunizations were being carried out.
While floods have gone down around the capital Manila, many areas in nearby provinces stayed inundated as overflowing dams continued to release water, the national disaster coordinating agency said.
"As the waters receded they left behind clogged pipelines and trash everywhere. Sanitation has emerged as a key problem," Red Cross secretary general Gwendolyn Pang said. "We have deployed health officers in evacuation centres and in flood-hit communities with the likelihood of diseases erupting."
The Red Cross put up huge rubber bladder tanks for clean water, while local officials sent portable latrines to packed evacuation centres.
Food packs were also rushed to some 769,999 people displaced by the floods that submerged about 80 percent of Manila last week.
Civil defense office head Benito Ramos said more than half were living in dire conditions in 948 evacuation centres, which are mostly schools and churches converted into temporary shelter areas.
"Many have returned to their homes as the waters subsided, but it is far from a normal situation," Ramos said. "We are trying to help them return to their normal lives with a massive clean-up operation. There is muck everywhere, and it would take some time."
The health department said water purification tablets were being distributed, while mass immunizations were being carried out.
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