WHO arm keeping eye on situation Tripti Nath The WHO South East Asia Regional Office (SEARO) is keeping itself posted of situation in cyclone-ravaged Myanmar. A control room manned by experts is gathering latest information on Nargis cyclone through communication links with the WHO country offices in Myanmar, Thailand and WHO headquarters in Geneva. According to the Myanmar government, 22,464 persons have been killed and about 41,000 went missing in the cyclone that hit the country on Saturday. Seven townships in the Delta region and 40 in the Yangon area have been badly affected. The WHO regional director Samlee Plianbangchang and deputy regional director Poonam Khetrapal Singh are expected to visit Myanmar soon to make a spot assessment of the needs arising from large-scale devastation. Myanmar is the largest country in mainland South-East Asia and has a long coastline of about 2,400 km. Ahead of Plianbangchang's visit, the first installment of WHO's South-East Asia Regional Health Emergency Fund (SEARHEF) of $1,75,000 has been released to help the victims of the cyclone. Poonam Khetrapal Singh said medical supplies sent by India have reached Myanmar. "There is a huge shortage of safe drinking water in Myanmar. We have already sent 35,000 Chlorine tablets by air. We have also sent emergency health kits containing medicines. Each kit has medicines for 10,000 persons, which will suffice for three months. We have sent 10 such kits. Keeping in mind that the Delta region is a Malaria-endemic zone, we are procuring impregnated (malaria proof) bed nets to send there,' he informed. At the WHO SEARO office here, a multi-disciplinary team led by Dr Roderico Ofrion, acting regional advisor for emergency and humanitarian action, is monitoring the ground situation in Myanmar through news updates from its country office in Myanmar, Bangkok and WHO headquarters in Geneva. Operating from Strategic Health Operation Centre (SHOC) in the SEARO office here, the core team comprising public information and advocacy officer Vismita Gupta-Smith, information management officer Kim Hyojeong and a technical officer for emergency and humanitarian action. The SHOC was set up in December 2004 tsunami to establish a facility for speedy communication that is critical for reaching out to victims in natural disasters and disease outbreaks. Poonam Khetrapal Singh spoke to WHO country head Adik Wibowo in Myanmar today. "Wibowo said they have already used the first instalment of $1,75,000 from South-East Asia Regional Health Emergency Fund and need more money.' Singh said SEARO was the first six region of WHO to set up the SEARHEF, a pooled fund, to address the immediate health needs of a disaster-affected population during the initial three months of a health emergency in South-East Asia when funds from other sources are not readily available. It was endorsed by 11 member states at the WHO regional committee for South-East Asia. They agreed that a total amount of $3,50,000 (about Rs 14 million) be released in two equal installments to the country facing such an emergency. She said the WHO SERAO office is coordinating with UN agencies in Myanmar. Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross has said it planned to deliver aid to various places of detention affected by the devastation of the cyclone. In a statement issued from Geneva, the ICRC said: "At the request of the Myanmar authorities, it will provide temporary shelter, emergency household items and enough food, drinking water and essential drugs.' The statement quotes Pierre Andre-Conod, ICRC's head of delegation in Myanmar, as saying they have learnt that several detention facilities have been hit by the cyclone. "We notified the authorities that we were ready to act quickly provided we received the necessary authorisations,' Conod said. The ICRC has drawn up an initial budget of two million Swiss francs to reunite family members separated by the disaster and help in the recovery, identification and dignified management of the dead.