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 On 18 January 2005, the World Health
Organization (WHO) Regional Office for South-East Asia
held an Information Meeting on Tsunami with development agencies to strengthen partnerships in
disaster relief operations. The meeting was attended by representatives from
19 donor agencies and United Nations (UN) system organizations.
Opening the meeting,
Dr Poonam Khetrapal
Singh, Deputy Regional Director, provided
a brief update on immediate actions taken by WHO Regional and country
offices, highlighting the setting up of the High-Level Task Force in the
Regional Office and Operation Rooms at Regional and country offices.
Additionally, several WHO sub-country offices in the affected areas have been
established.
As the organization
leading the coordinated public health relief effort, during the early phase
of the crisis, the priorities for WHO were to provide technical support to
countries in urgent efforts to prevent communicable disease outbreaks,
particularly of water-borne diseases.
The focus was on ensuring displaced populations in affected areas with
basic needs (ie adequate supplies of safe water,
strong sanitation/hygiene infrastructure and basic medical supplies). WHO distributed millions of water
purification tablets to displaced populations, medical supplies to provide
basic medical care to more than five million people for a period of three
months, surgical kits to provide full surgical care to more than 100,000
individuals, as well as anti-diarrhoeal treatments
and oral rehydration salts. Additionally, WHO deployed vast teams of
public health experts, as well as logisticians and water sanitation engineers.
Partners were
further briefed on WHO areas of support and activities by WHO tsunami
technical groups. Feedback from the field was obtained from returning WHO
staff members. The briefings focused
on setting up emergency disease surveillance and early warning systems, mass
vaccination campaigns to protect hundreds of thousands of children against
measles, the provision of 78 technical guidelines and use of emergency teams
at field level, databases of standby list of experts throughout WHO and GOARN
(WHO's Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network) and activities aimed at
reducing vulnerability of women and children and rebuilding health system.
WHO’s working with
partners at country level was also highlighted, including WHO’s
involvement in the government and UN system coordination mechanisms and
assessment on health impact and planning for reconstruction and
rehabilitation.
In the ensuing
discussion, partners appreciated the WHO’s initiative for the
Information Meeting and also WHO’s emergency actions taken on tsunami
disaster operation. Dr Salim Habayeb, WHO Representative to India, also provided information on the response
to tsunami disaster in India and discussed with partners on some subjects
relating to Indian government’s position on foreign aid and current
situation in the Nicobar Islands.
Several partners
also shared information on their operations being
undertaken by respective agencies.
Meeting participants were impressed by a tour of the 24-hour WHO
Operations Room, where several
operational groups are working around the clock to coordinate work at the
field level. All participants
reiterated their commitment to working together for disaster mitigation.
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Introducing the
Operations Room staff to donors
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Introducing
Donors to and interacting with the staff at Operations Rooms
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Ears and eyes
wide open - Representatives of Donor
in attentive posture at the meeting
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Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh
addressing the donors meeting
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Donor representatives
jotting down key points at the meeting
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A section of
donor representatives in an attentive mode at the meeting
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