Quake survivors risk disease

Thousands of Indonesian earthquake survivors need urgent medical attention say health workers. Two weeks after the high impact quake struck Indonesia's West Sumatra, lack of shelter and food has meant many of the survivors have become ill. In Padang Pariaman, part of the island that took the biggest hit from the quake, people have started to get chest infections diarrhoea and skin problems. In one village many locals had caught conjunctivitis, also called pink eye “We have treated more than 1,500 with various post-disaster diseases,” said Werrizal Amsir, a doctor working for one of the Island’s aid agencies. “Many of the survivors slept in the open so they were exposed to dust, heat and poor hygiene,” Dr Amsir told the United Nations news service. He said that he and his team of volunteers as well as other aid agencies had been trying to get to remote parts of the south east Asian island that had received little or no aid.

An Australian doctor in Padang, said more specialists, such as burns experts, were needed to treat the victims. "We have only two nurses per 50 people, and they are the same nurses who have been here since the beginning. They are exhausted," Ade Edward, head of West Sumatra's earthquake coordinating desk told Reuters news service. "We have enough medicine for this week but it will run out soon,” he said. “We need four weeks supply in advance but now we only have enough for one week in advance." Shelter is still a priority for many of the survivors. Left with nothing, many people are forced to live in the open, so hygiene conditions are poor and clean water is hard to get. Because living conditions are so bad, medics working in the area expect many respiratory infections, diarrhoea, and other illnesses. Luckily, though there had not been any major disease outbreaks, said the National Disaster Management Agency spokesman Priyadi Kardono. He also said that 80 per cent of electricity had been restored, but water pipes in some areas were still damaged.
“Because electricity is running, people can use their electric water pumps. We have been delivering water to households that do not have electric water pumps,” he said.

At least 809 people were killed in the 7.6 magnitude quake, according to government figures. Another 241 are listed as missing, with all but four of them in Padang Pariaman, where landslides triggered by the quake buried whole villages. The quake also injured 1,250 people and left more than 135,300 buildings badly damaged. The government said on Sunday that relief supplies had by then got to almost all affected areas, while they had enough health workers to care for survivors. But the fact that the island had rolled out mass vaccination shows the fear of disease is still at the forefront. The United Nations has launched a $38 million appeal to pay for shelter, restore water facilities and fight disease.

By Hayley Jarvis for SOS Children