By KUNA,
London : The death toll following the Myanmar (Burma) cyclone disaster could rise to 1.5 million, a leading British aid organisation warned Sunday.
Oxfam said the stricken country faced a public health catastrophe unless clean water and sanitation was quickly provided.
Cyclone Nargis brought death and destruction to the secretive South East Asian country more than a week ago, leaving an estimated 100,000 dead.
But aid organisations fear the slow response by Burmese authorities to the crisis could result in a death toll dwarfing the devastating 2004 tsunami which killed 250,000 people.
Sarah Ireland, Oxfam’s regional director for East Asia, said in a statement, “With the likelihood of 100,000 or more killed in the cyclone there are all the factors for a public health catastrophe which could multiply that death toll by up to 15 times in the coming period.
“In the tsunami, in 2004, 250,000 lost their lives in the first few hours but we did not see an outbreak of disease because the host governments and the world mobilised a massive aid effort to prevent it happening.
“We have to do the same for the people in Burma. We have the skills and expertise to save lives. We are here to help.” The Burmese authorities are facing increasing pressure to allow supplies and volunteers into the country.
Politicians, senior aid officials and members of the clergy here have all condemned the military junta for dragging their feet while tens of thousands suffered.
Aid has slowly started to trickle into the deluged country but humanitarian groups said it was not reaching those desperately in need fast enough.
Appealing directly to the Burmese government, the Oxfam regional director said, “We support a call to lift visa restrictions on international aid agencies wanting to assist disaster-affected people in Burma.
“Oxfam and others need permission to work in Burma.” An Oxfam spokesman said clean water was desperately needed by the people displaced by the disaster.
Large swathes of the country remain submerged by the stinking flood water.
Hundreds of bloated corpses have been seen floating down the country’s waterways and newly formed pools of stagnant water are creating breeding grounds for mosquitos carrying malaria and dengue fever.
An Oxfam spokesman said, “In Burma people’s resistance to disease is weakened daily because of lack of food and shelter, exposure to the elements and drinking surface water that is more than likely contaminated with human and animal waste.
“This creates an effective breeding ground for diseases such as cholera, typhoid and shigella taking hold.
“The lives of those 1.5 million people who have survived the initial impact of the cyclone face a perilous future if life-saving assistance is not immediately rushed to them.”