WHO NEWS

WHO in the tsunami crisis

• On 26 December, the fourth most powerful earthquake ever recorded occurred under the seabed off the coast of Indonesia. The magniture, 9.0 on the Richter scale, triggered a series of giant waves that wrought destruction in 12 countries from south-east Asia to the Horn of Africa, killed more than 150 000 people and left at least half a million people injured and as many as five million homeless with little or no clean water, food or health services.
• Within days, a team from WHO's Health Action in Crises department started colloborating with WHO's Regional Office for South-East Asia in New Delhi, India, to collate information on the death toll and injured, coordinate relief work and monitor any disease outbreaks.
• WHO started sending water purification tablets and health emergency kits with basic medical supplies for more than two million people, surgical equipment for more than 10 000 operations and emergency treatment of diarrhoeal diseases for more than 15 000 people.
• On 30 December, WHO warned that between three and five million people in the tsunami-hit region were unable to access basic requirements to stay alive: clean water, adequate shelter, food, sanitation and health care.
• On 4 January, WHO Director-General Dr LEE Jong-wook visited Jakarta, Indonesia, and the following day flew to the province of Aceh, large swathes of which were devastated by the combined impact of the earthquake and waves. He joined WHO Regional Director for South-East Asia, Dr Samlee Plianbangchang there to help assess the damage, evaluate relief efforts and see what further help WHO could provide.
• On 5 January, WHO said much of the aid it had sent was reaching disaster-hit locations but warned that access to safe drinking-water remained inadequate, particularly in the Indonesian province of Aceh and on the eastern coast of Sri Lanka.
• Lee visited Sri Lanka from 6 to 8 January where he met Health Minister Nirmal Siripala de Silva and WHO Representative in Sri Lanka Dr Kan Tun. Lee witnessed the devastation wrought by the tsunami in the coastal regions of the island, and praised the efforts of the people there to rebuild their shattered lives.
• On 6 January, WHO appealed to donors for US$ 66 million to implement its public health strategy in the disaster-hit region. WHO started working with the Ministry of Health and other agencies in Sri Lanka to provide supplies to reduce the risk of disease outbreaks and to help rebuild vital health infrastructure, such as hospitals, clinics, pharmacies and medical stores that were washed away or badly damaged when the waves struck. A World Bank/WHO team started to assess the damage wrought by the tsunami in Sri Lanka and the resources needed to rebuild communities.
• On 11 January, donor countries pledged US$ 717 million in immediate cash in response to a United Nations appeal for nearly US$ 1 billion to help countries devastated by the tsunami to provide relief, food, shelter and medicines, for their people and help with reconstruction.
• On 14 January, a joint Indonesia—United Nations team of 20 started a series of daily missions to isolated areas on the coast of Aceh to do rapid health assessments of survivors to gauge what kind of humanitarian relief is needed. In teams of four they flew by helicopter from their base on the Abraham Lincoln, a U.S. aircraft carrier anchored off the Indonesian coast, to see whether any medicines or vaccines were needed and whether survivors were injured, had enough food, and had access to safe water and sanitation.

For more about these and other WHO news items please see: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/en/