Myanmar: A big aid operation, but much more is needed

On the second of May, Cyclone Nargis swept over large parts of Myanmar. The storm caused immediate destruction on a large scale. It also created a wall of water, that washed away people and property. In the Irriwaddy delta, many tens of thousands died. Many more were left homeless.

Survivors are living out in the open in camps, or find shelter in the buildings that remain. In the aftermath of one of the biggest natural disasters in recent years, people urgently need shelter, clean water for drinking and washing, food, medical care, and psychological support.

But aid has been slow to reach the survivors. The destruction has made it very difficult to travel inside the Irriwaddy delta. And the authorities have been weary of letting foreign aid experts into the country.

Médecins Sans Frontières was already working in Myanmar before the cyclone. As Head of Mission, Frank Smithuis explains, this allowed MSF to respond immediately to some of the needs.

ITW FRANK SMITHUIS:"We have about 200 national staff in Labutta and we do the same as we started: we distribute rice, we coordinate water, we provide shelters and we treat patients for wounds, fever and diarrhoea."

More Médecins Sans Frontières staff is added to the teams already in the delta. They provide emergency care through mobile medical teams and organize distribution of the food and relief materials mentioned by Smithuis.

Médecins Sans Frontières has flown 190 tons of emergency materials into Myanmar. This adds to the stock that Médecins Sans Frontières already had in the country, and the roughly 200 tons of materials that was purchased locally.

Getting the materials into the delta and to the population is a huge logistical challenge that is overseen by some of the most experienced emergency aid workers in the largest city of Myanmar, Yangon.

The operation aims at helping people survive today, but also preventing more calamities tomorrow, such as a rapid spread of infectious diseases.

ITW FRANK SMITHUIS: "For the near future, I think our main worry is that people do not have shelter, do not have rice and that there will be a water problem. And the water problem will then possibly lead to outbreak of diarrhoea."