SRI LANKA: No post-flooding disease outbreaks so far - Health Ministry

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COLOMBO, 7 February 2011 (IRIN) - Health officials in Sri Lanka are keeping a close eye on possible disease outbreaks in areas badly hit by flooding. “So far there has been no major outbreak,” Sudath Peiris, a senior epidemiologist with the Ministry of Health’s Epidemiology Unit, told IRIN. “But there is always the risk. We need to constantly monitor the situation.” More than 320,000 have been displaced and over 1.2 million affected in the country’s eastern, northern and central regions, the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) [ http://www.dmc.gov.lk/situation%20report/reports-pdf/2011/Situation%20Report%20-07.02.2011%20at%200900hrs.pdf ] reported on 7 February. Nearly 88,000 families are now in shelters - schools and other public facilities. Before the latest wave of flooding [ http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportID=91709 ] - the second in less than a month to hit the area - the Epidemiology Unit had distributed a circular [ http://www.epid.gov.lk/pdf/Circulars/flood/Guidelines%20for%20IDP%20floods%20May%202010.pdf ] to all regional health officials instructing them on preventive measures. The Unit also advises regional officials to take the lead in monitoring the health situation following the floods, and to coordinate with the Unit and the DMC. [ http://www.dmc.gov.lk/ ] “The regional health authorities were already aware of what to do when the floods came,” Peiris said. Mobile clinics Sinnathmabi Sharamuham, the regional director of health for Batticaloa District, Eastern Province, said so far there had been no reports of disease outbreaks among the flood displaced or affected population. “We are operating mobile health units that constantly monitor the situation in the sites where the displaced remain, or in the flooded villages.” Meanwhile, special teams were also looking into the nutrition status of children under five, sanitation and cooking facilities, and the quality of safe drinking water, he added. “For the time being we can manage. The problems will arise if these people remain in the welfare camps for long,” he said, warning that if the displaced remain in camps for over two weeks, better sanitation and rubbish disposal facilities should be put in place. This is the same region hit by flooding 9-11 January which displaced over 380,000 and affected over a million. Many roads in the districts of Ampara, Batticaloa and Polonnaruwa were impassable. DMC says the rain has eased over the past 48 hours. “We are getting supplies by road to most of the flood-hit locations,” DMC deputy director Pradeep Kodippilli said. “But the worry is the Metrological Department has warned us that the rains could last for another few days.” ap/ds/cb © IRIN. All rights reserved. More humanitarian news and analysis: http://www.IRINnews.org