We are procuring other life-saving supplies in a race against time to avert a health crisis in the delta and other hard-hit districts of Myanmar.  You can read the latest on our relief efforts here.

“It takes less than a spoonful of contaminated water for a person to come down with dysentery or cholera,” says IRC water and sanitation expert Ben Harvey. “These are highly infectious diseases and untreated can quickly kill in the tens of thousands.” 

“Nearly all homes were destroyed in the villages I assessed today and the survivors have virtually no access to clean drinking water,” IRC emergency response coordinator Gordon Bacon told the AP this week. “With each passing day, we come closer to a massive health disaster and a second wave of deaths that is potentially larger than the first.” 

Gordon was one of the first aid workers to be allowed to enter the country after Cyclone Nargis struck.  ”It looked as if it had been raining trees and branches,” he told NPR about his arrival in Myanmar. “It was very, very obvious there had been an immense storm.” Listen to NPR’s interview with Gordon >

Now, forecasters say a new cyclone is headed toward the Irrawaddy Delta.  Please make an urgent donation to support the work of IRC’s emergency teams in Myanmar.