WER is sending a further consignment of emergency medical supplies to Myanmar (Burma) to treat children who are now facing grave health risks four weeks after Cyclone Nargis devastated the Irrawaddy Delta region of the country.
Over 3 tons of medicines and medical supplies, including children's antibiotics, vitamin supplements and sterile medical dressings, are due to be air freighted from the UK to Myanmar on Monday 2nd June. The consignment will be received by ADRA Burma, WER's local partner agency in Myanmar, and will be distributed to local health facilities which are treating children within communities affected by the cyclone.
The supplies were donated to WER by major European medical pharmaceutical suppliers through International Health Partners (IHP).
More than 130,000 people are now feared dead after Cyclone Nargis smashed into Myanmar's Irrawaddy Delta on 2nd and 3rd May 2008. Hundreds of thousands of people have spent weeks without shelter or regular supplies of food or fresh water and many are now at great risk as dysentery and respiratory infections take their hold on the sick and vulnerable.
WER is sending aid to Myanmar in regular individual consignments in order to help ensure quick entry into the country. This latest consignment of children's medicines and medical supplies is the third in a series of consignments scheduled to be air-freighted to Myanmar over the coming weeks.
WER is appealing for support from the UK public in order to help ensure further supplies can be quickly delivered to Myanmar. The humanitarian aid already sent by WER has been successfully received by ADRA Burma and is right now being used to treat and save the lives of those affected by the cyclone.
To make a donation to WER's Myanmar Cyclone Appeal, or for more details on our work, please call the WER team on 0844 249 2129 or visit www.wer-uk.org
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
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