| Subject: WHO warns rains
will bring mass outbreaks of epidemics in E. Timor WHO warns rains will bring mass outbreaks of epidemics in East Timor
DILI, East Timor, Oct 11 (AFP) - The World Health
Organization (WHO) warned here Monday that East Timor was at risk from epidemics of
measles, cholera and malaria with the imminent onset of the annual wet season. It warned
that the rains due any day now could submerge the shattered public health system under a
catastrophic wave of disease.
With hundreds of thousands of refugees believed to be
hiding in the hills in fear of militia violence and the infrastructure of Dili and other
towns in ruins, doctors said the outlook could be grim.
Doctor Buriot Diego said aid agencies were racing against
time to install a primitive emergency health care system.
"There is a risk of cholera because the sanitary
situation is really bad. A risk of dengue fever as we are in an endemic area, and also a
risk of Japanese encephalitis."
Diego added that the collapse of innoculation programs over
the last few months when East Timor was in the grip of political turmoil meant measles was
also a threat.
Public health systems and services are nearly non-existent
in East Timor.
In the capital of Dili alone 90 percent of the buildings
have been destroyed, many people are living in the open, and despite humanitarian aid
agency efforts to distribute materials for shelter, many people would have little defence
against prolongued heavy rains, the WHO says.
WHO Doctor Moira Connolly said the threat of epidemics had
arisen because of "the collapse of the health system inside Dili" and the fact
that thousands of refugees were cut off from humanitarian aid in areas not yet deemed
secure by the multinational force in East Timor.
She said three cases of severe malaria had been detected
outside the city of Dili in the past three days, and one of the patients, a man, was in a
coma in hospital.
"We are in a situation where we are going into the
malaria season," she said, adding people's resistance to infection had been lowered
because they were living in the open and had a poor diet.
The WHO Geneva headquarters is sending a mobile laboratory
to Darwin and experts to East Timor to assess the threat from malaria and other diseases.
She said the danger from disease was present all over East
Timor and also in the camps in West Timor to which thousands of East Timorese have fled
and where health workers have very limited access.
The only medical facilities currently operating in Dili are
run by the Red Cross and different nations in the multinational peace force.
Humanitarian agencies are planning to start mass
inoculation programs within weeks but admit that with the approach of the rains, which
started in West Timor Monday, their chances of reaching all the people in need are slim.
Stockpiles of drugs and medical supplies are being flown
into the territory along with other humanitarian aid from Darwin, Australia.
Connolly said although efforts to treat the sick and to
stave off epidemics were underway, it was vital that humanitarian workers can reach
refugees in the hills as soon as possible.
"The key issue is access," she said.
The multinational force in East Timor has defended itself
against criticism that its operation has been too slow to reach refugees in remote
locations.
Leading members of the humanitarian community here however
praised force commander Major General Peter Cosgrove for juggling humanitarian concerns
with security needs.
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