Myanmar residents queue to get drinking water in Yangon on May 5. The World Health Organisation has warned that victims of the devastating cyclone are at risk from cholera, malaria and diarrhea due to a lack of safe drinking water.(AFP/File/Khin Maung Win)
GENEVA (AFP) - The World Health Organisation warned Friday that victims of the devastating Myanmar cyclone are at risk from cholera, malaria and diarrhea due to a lack of safe drinking water.
"The lack of drinking water and sanitation are the two main problems," WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib told journalists.
Myanmar is an endemic malaria zone, and stagnant water is a breeding ground for mosquitoes which transmit the disease, she said.
The WHO said it also expects a rise in cases of diarrhea and respiratory ailments, and warned that people injured in the devastation also risk picking up tetanus.
The WHO has sent two medical kits as part of a wider aid package organised by the World Food Programme. Each kit contains enough medical material to meet the needs of 10,000 people over three months, Chaib said.
Eight further kits are waiting to be dispatched, according to the WHO website.
