sanitation

As rains continue to lash the flood ravaged Sindh province in Pakistan, Oxfam warns of a severe risk of a public health crisis if clean water and sanitation is not urgently provided.

International agency Oxfam is airlifting 47 tonnes of vital water supply and hygiene materials to Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, as the aid community scales up its effort to bring relief to the drought-stricken country.

The number of people affected by the flood emergency in Colombia has risen by 50,000 people in the last two weeks, bringing the total number affect to more than 2,100,000 said international agency Oxfam today.

International agency Oxfam has doubled its cholera response since the first cases were confirmed in October in Haiti. Oxfam’s water, sanitation and hygiene education programs are now reaching over 700,000 people in the capital Port-au-Prince, Artibonite, and Cap Haitien.

Oxfam’s Water and Sanitation advisor Raphael Mutiku said:

In response to the cholera outbreak in central Haiti, Oxfam has mobilized a team of five emergency specialists to set up water, sanitation and hygiene programs for an estimated 100,000 people in a heavily affected zone.

Oxfam today warned of a public health catastrophe in flood-hit Pakistan. While funding had stalled in recent weeks, the number of cases of reported disease, numbers of people displaced, and numbers of people affected by the floods continue to rise each day.

Oxfam called for additional funding for the 2008 Cyclone Nargis survivors in Myanmar today, saying the upcoming monsoon season is posing a serious threat to their recovery with shelter still a pressing need and agriculture at risk.

More than 1.3 million people are displaced, dependant on emergency relief to survive. But dwindling contributions from the international community are forcing humanitarian organizations to close programs.