Burma’s Humanitarian Crisis
For Immediate Release: May 9, 2008
WASHINGTON - Children are the most vulnerable and least equipped to cope with the impact of a crisis. Global Action for Children advocates for these children; those most susceptible to disease, poverty, hunger; those least likely to have access to education and healthcare; those who may have lost one or both parents to the AIDS epidemic. It is these highly vulnerable children who are at exponentially high risk in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis that devastated the country of Burma nearly one week ago.
In response to recent reports on the Burmese tragedy, Executive Director of Global Action for Children Jennifer Delaney expressed her concern for the vulnerable children caught in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis. "There is an immediate need for disaster assistance and aid throughout the country. More than 20,000 are dead, more than 40,000 are missing, and, if humanitarian access is not granted in all areas of the country now, thousands more families and children will suffer and die." She added "The Burmese government must allow all of the aid that is available to come into the country immediately to stop the death toll from climbing even higher."
At a Center for Strategic and International Studies briefing today, titled The Humanitarian Crisis in Burma Post Cyclone Nargis, Chris Beyrer, MD, of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, noted several areas of great concern due to pre-existing conditions throughout the country. In the most immediate term, he predicted a likely epidemic of water-borne disease, such as cholera and E.coli, due to a lack of clean drinking water. While both diseases are manageable in healthy populations, in Burma, they are most likely not.
After many years of malnutrition and severe poverty throughout the country, fatality rates could reach up to 20 percent as a result of these diseases. Children are at greatest risk, as diarrhea and dehydration claim 1.6 million children’s lives each year. Also, a large-scale child measles outbreak is likely to be the result of the congregation of large groups of people in the aftermath of the cyclone. A low immunization rate in Burma coupled with extremely high rates of child malnutrition (as of fall 2007, one third of children under five in Burma were malnourished), will very likely spur high mortality rates from an otherwise treatable disease. Malaria and dengue fever outbreaks are also expected due to the large numbers of now homeless people living in close proximity to open water, noted Beyrer.
An erosion of the healthcare infrastructure throughout the country over the last few decades crippled the ability of the Burmese people to receive any degree of healthcare. According to a 2000 World Health Organization report, Burma is second to only Sierra Leone in having the lowest level of government investment in health infrastructure in the world. This lack of infrastructure will keep those afflicted with post-cyclone diseases from receiving the medical attention they need while trapped in the government-enforced vacuum of humanitarian services.
According to Beyrer, there has been a rapid response from Burmese citizens who have formed their own aid teams inside the country, though they desperately need cash. While there is a local availability of some food and medical supplies, they are being sold to people (by the military) who couldn’t have afforded them before the ravages of Nargis. Of the little international aid that has been allowed inside the country, much of it has been intercepted and pilfered by the ruling junta, according to UN reports. The generosity of the United States and international community is not the major difficulty, as pledges of aid have been pouring in from around the world. Access to those in need is the immediate insurmountable stumbling block, as the ruling junta has barred access and seized what little aid assistance has been allowed inside the country. Additionally, the Burmese government is not rapidly issuing visas to humanitarian aid workers. Single digits represent the number of visas that have been issued to various multilateral and international NGOs on a daily basis. According to Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) and NSC, in order to provide effective aid that is capably mobilized, aid organizations and government offices must be granted permission to assess the current infrastructure capabilities within Burma so as to be able effectively distribute aid to those most in need should access be granted. The United States has already made a preliminary contribution of $3.25 million, with $2 million directed towards NGO partners already on the ground and $1 million to the Red Cross to provide non-food supplies. Further contributions are hinging on the capabilities of distribution, as food and mosquito netting does little good when sitting in warehouses.
As aforementioned, the problem isn’t monetary, but rather, it is the military junta’s reluctance to allow aid groups any degree of access to the population in need. Ky Luu of OFDA emphasized that the OFDA is the lead U.S. office for global assistance, regardless of political relationship that the country in need has with the United States. The goal is to bring in experts who can provide immediate, life-saving help to those affected populations. He further noted that time is essential and that it has been a week with prohibited access while people are dying.
Some organizations are hopeful that greater levels of access will be granted following the constitutional referendum May 10, as it is clear that the referendum is the priority of the Burmese government, not provision of assistance to its citizens. In the wake of this crisis, there are reports Burmese soldiers have been utilized to intimidate citizens into voting in the election, rather than providing desperately needed aid.
"Politics must be put aside, the people of Burma need help now," Delaney pleaded.
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Global Action for Children (GAC) is a nonpartisan, results-oriented coalition dedicated to advocating for orphans and highly vulnerable children in the developing world. Since 2003, GAC has worked to improve policies and expand investment in programs supporting vulnerable children, ensuring funds are spent effectively so all children have the health care, education, food, and protection they need to grow up safe and healthy.
