Myanmar: Malteser International teams treat first cholera patients - Two more cargos with relief supplies for the Irrawaddy Delta

Labutta/Cologne. "By now, we have treated the first cholera patients," Malteser International staff members report from the hardly affected coastal town in the Irrawaddy Delta. Since the cyclone hit the region, the people here in Labutta could only drink water from wells that have been spoilt and heavily polluted by the flood wave."

In order to reach as many survivors as possible in the disaster region, Malteser International has sent out three mobile clinics to the Delta. About 50 staff members - of the total of mean-while around 200 staff working for Malteser International in Myanmar - are providing relief in the disaster region nearly round the clock. The top priority besides medical care now is to secure the access to safe drinking water and sanitation. Malteser International is going to provide rainwater harvesting tanks for the 8,000 internally displaced people in the biggest camp in a monastery in Labutta (Lay Htat Kyaung). Furthermore, the water is sanitized with chlorine. In addition, Malteser International in cooperation with Unicef will set up 100 latrines in this camp. In total, Malteser International provides help for about 50,000 survivors of the cyclone in the Irrawaddy Delta and in Yangon.

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