Westport, Conn. (11, June, 2009) — Save the Children continues to confront serious health risks facing children in the aftermath of Cyclone Aila, which hit southwestern Bangladesh and eastern India on May 25 and killed close to 300 people.

Widespread saltwater contamination from flooding has drastically reduced clean water supplies, and diarrhoea and other waterborne diseases pose a major health threat to many of the approximately 10 million people affected by the cyclone. 

“Children are not only more vulnerable to the diarrhoea outbreaks we’re seeing in flood-affected areas, they are more likely to die if they get sick and are not treated,” said Ned Olney, vice president for Save the Children’s global humanitarian response. “It’s extremely critical to get clean water and medical treatment to these children, even as their families are coping with the loss of homes, livelihoods and the extreme challenges of daily life and uncertain futures.”

To treat diarrhoea, Save the Children has distributed thousands of doses of oral rehydration supplies in India and Bangladesh. Save the Children is also operating five water purification plants in Bangladesh and has distributed more than 1.2 million litres of clean water to date. The agency is providing 17,000 families in the hardest-hit areas with daily drinking water, and is taking water by vehicle and boat to some of the more remote coastal areas. Save the Children has also distributed 15,000 water purification tablets to 1,500 families.

To address the medical needs of the most isolated families, Save the Children is operating a water ambulance in cooperation with local Bangladeshi authorities. The water ambulance has transported nine health teams to chars (sea islands) and med-evacuated three critically ill patients (two children and one expectant mother).

Save the Children has provided thousands of Indian and Bangladeshi families with household kits that contain water containers, tarps for temporary shelter, mosquito nets and hygiene items. 

Save the Children has also established more than 25 child-friendly spaces and will continue to create more. These provide children with safe places to play, receive healthy meals and health services, and re-establish a sense of routine and security.

More information

Save the Children has been working in Bangladesh since 1972 and began working in India prior to independence. The agency, which implements disaster risk-reduction programs in addition to conducting emergency relief efforts around the world and in the United States, also provided relief and assisted with recovery efforts after Cyclone Sidr swept through Bangladesh in November 2007.

For media enquiries about our response in Bangladesh, please contact Kate Conradt, Save the Children US, on  001 202-640-6631 or 001 202-294-9700.

For more information about Save the Children's response in India, please contact Priya Subramanian, Media and Communications Manager, Save the Children India, at 0091 9999 269395