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Africa cyclone survivors face ‘ticking bomb’ of disease: Red Cross
GENEVA, March 25, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – A powerful cyclone that pummelled
southern African countries earlier this month has left survivors facing “a
ticking bomb” of looming disease outbreaks, the Red Cross chief warned
Monday.
Cyclone Idai smashed into Mozambique’s coast 10 days ago, unleashing
hurricane-force wind and rain that flooded swathes of the poor country before
battering eastern Zimbabwe — killing at least 705 people across the two
nations.
While aid workers have been rushing to bring emergency aid to the hundreds
of thousands of affected people, the head of the International Federation of
Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) stressed the urgent need to focus
on hygiene, sanitation and clean water.
“We are sitting on a ticking bomb,” Elhadj As Sy, IFRC Secretary General
told reporters in Geneva after returning from a weekend visit to Mozambique.
He pointed to the “high risk of water-borne diseases”, like cholera and
typhus — as well as malaria, which is endemic in the region.
The United Nations has also warned that stagnant water in many areas,
decomposing bodies and the lack of good sanitation in overcrowded shelters in
Mozambique in particular could create breeding grounds for such diseases.
The government has already identified some suspected cases of cholera,
still to be confirmed, Sy said.
But while a large-scale cholera outbreak following this kind of disaster
would not be surprising, the worst could still be avoided, he said.
“That is the reason why I am raising the alarm. Many of these water-borne
diseases are a great risk, but they are preventable,” he said.
– ‘Preparing for the worst’ –
The IFRC has deployed emergency response units to help improve hygiene,
sanitation as well as clean water access, and Sy voiced optimism that this,
joint with massive efforts by national authorities and other international
players would pay off.
“We may not have this big outbreak,” he said, emphasising though that “all
depends on the speed, the quality, the scale and the magnitude of the
responses we bring.”
“We know how to prevent cholera, we know how to respond to cholera,” he
said, adding that “we are already preparing … for the worst”.
More than two million people have been affected in Mozambique, Zimbabwe
and Malawi where the storm started as a tropical depression causing flooding
which killed 60 and displaced nearly a million people. Hundreds are still
missing in Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
Sy said women and children had been disproportionately affected in the
disaster.
“The worst thing is the children crying and looking for their parents…
It is heartbreaking,” he said, adding that it remained unclear how many
children may have been orphaned.
He said IFRC initially had appealed for 10 million Swiss francs ($10
million, 8.9 million euros) to address the crisis.
“But when I was on the ground…, we realised very, very quickly that this
is not going to be anywhere near the scale and magnitude to make any
difference,” Sy said.
The organisation had therefore tripled its appeal to 30 million francs,
allowing it to reach some 200,000 people in need, he said.
BSS/AFP/BZC/1815HRS