The Hereford Times

Public urged to help Burma victims

8:39am Monday 12th May 2008

The public have been urged to donate to an appeal fund to help save the lives of those affected by the Burmese cyclone.

The Disaster Emergency Committee (DEC) has raised more than £5 million for those displaced by Cyclone Nargis so far.

But the growing size of the crisis in the region has prompted the DEC to warn that much more is needed to stave of a humanitarian crisis.

The DEC is an umbrella group for the organisations working on the ground in Burma to get aid to the estimated two million people at risk following the devastating storm.

DEC Chief Executive Brendan Gormley explained: "Donations of over £5 million have been received and it's vital that people continue to support the DEC Appeal.

"Our DEC agencies and their partners are on the ground now helping thousands in desperate need of water, food and medical supplies."

He added: "We can't let these people down and we're relying on the generous support of the British public to help us continue this life saving work."

The country is on the brink of a humanitarian crisis with thousands of people relying on water contaminated with corpses, putrefying dead animals and human waste.

Paula Sansom, Merlin's Emergency Response Programme Manager for health is currently in the town of Laputta in the devastated Irrawaddy Delta in the South of Burma.

She said: "Diarrhoea has already begun to take hold and without proper sanitation, could infect entire communities. Heavy rains are also expected which will add to the devastation. It is vital we move now and we move quickly."