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FROM THE FIELD

MAP Responds to South America Flooding
12 Mar 2008 18:45:00 GMT
 Source: Medical Assistance Programs (MAP) International - USA
MAP International

Website: Website: http://www.map.org

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A flooded street in Catarama, in Ecuador's Los Rios province. MAP has dispatched staff to the area and has provided emergency medicines and supplies.
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A flooded street in Catarama, in Ecuador's Los Rios province. MAP has dispatched staff to the area and has provided emergency medicines and supplies.
MAP International

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As several countries in South America continue to endure the worst flooding in years, Medical Assistance Programs (MAP) International has sent more than $1.2 million in medicines and medical supplies to the region to assist more than 100,000 people who have escaped the deluge.

Hundreds of thousands of people in the South American country of Ecuador have fled their houses, as heavy rains, that have been pummeling the nation for weeks, have swamped hundreds of homes as well as banana and rice plantations. People now face an impending shortage of food as millions of dollars in crops have been destroyed.

Entire coastal villages are submerged, prompting a healthcare crisis due to the risk of waterborne diseases and a paucity of healthcare available in and near the flooded areas.

Thus far at least 16 people have died and another 300,000 have been affected, many seeking safety in temporary shelters on higher ground. The government mobilized its military to help evacuate people and distribute aid.

Rafael Correa, Ecuador's president, said the situation was critical and requested international assistance during a recent radio broadcast. "This is not an emergency, this is a disaster," he said. "We don't have enough resources to help all the victims."

MAP International, which has an office in Ecuador's capital of Quito, has responded by sending more than $635,000 in medicines and emergency supplies to help tens of thousands of people displaced by the flooding.

The torrential rains are seasonal in Central and South America but this year's onslaught has been the worst in 25 years. Unremitting rains in numerous countries have destroyed roads, bridges, homes and healthcare clinics, causing government and international aid workers to work feverishly as they conduct mass evacuations and distribute relief supplies to hundreds of thousands of people.

MAP has also shipped more than $600,000 in emergency medicines and medical supplies to Bolivia, where MAP staff members, based at MAP's office in Cochabamba, Bolivia, have responded to mass amounts of flooding and mudslides in the country.

Bolivia, which is the poorest country in South America, now faces hundreds of millions of dollars in damage as floodwaters have inundated crops, roads, bridges, buildings and thousands of homes. Entire cities have been swamped, and 30,000 square miles of the Amazon Jungle - an area nearly the size of Austria - is under water. At least 51 people have died, and thousands more have been forced to flee their homes.

MAP's emergency shipments, which will serve more than 60,000 people, include oral rehydration salts to combat diarrhea as well as antibiotics. MAP staff members in both countries will continue to monitor the situation in the weeks to come, as rains are expected to continue.


[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

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[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

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