ENGLISH DEYEA NEWS

Mungpi | New Delhi – Strange as it may seem though many of the survivors of last month's killer Cyclone Nargis are yet to receive relief supplies, there has been no reports of the situation worsening or a major outbreak of diseases, local aid workers said.

Despite inadequate aid supplies, survivors have resisted a 'second wave death' from diseases which are normal after a natural disaster of the magnitude of Cyclone Nargis, local aid workers said.

A local aid worker in Rangoon, who returned from the Irrawaddy delta said, "Aid has not reached all survivors but people are proving their ability to resist."

But he said survivors could do better if the aid supply process was more adequate and timely.

"It is sad that people have to depend on nature to heal their wounds in the absence of proper and systematic medical treatment," the aid worker said.

The United Nations' World Food Programme earlier told Mizzima that despite deploying 10 helicopters to airlift aid supplies, several villages in remote areas still remain unreachable.

Paul Risley, spokesperson of WFP in Bangkok, said lack of transportation and communication are the main reasons for failing to reach remote areas.

The aid worker, who is working with an international aid agency, said while there are cases of diseases including cholera and diarrhea, there has been no severe outbreak.

"Due to decades of hardship, the people in Burma are more resistant to diseases," the aid worker said. "So, may be this is one reason we have not seen serious health hazards as yet.'

Medicines San Frontieres (MSF), a French medical team which had been helping cyclone victims in Burma's Irrawaddy delta earlier told Mizzima that while several survivors, particularly children were detected with cholera and diarrhea there has so far been no sign of an outbreak.

Meanwhile on Thursday Dr. Surin Pitsuwan, Secretary-General of ASEAN and Chair of the ASEAN Humanitarian Task Force visited Bogale Township, Set San village and Kyein Chaung Gyi village in the Irrawaddy Delta to witness first hand the devastation caused by the cyclone.

Cylcone Nargis, which lashed Burma's southwestern coastal divisions of Irrawaddy and Rangoon, left at least 138,000 dead and missing, according to the government's latest figures. The United Nations estimates that at least 2.4 million lives have been devastated.

Dr Surin, witnessing the survivors' struggles, in a statement said, "To see how they suffer is heartbreak. To observe how they refuse to surrender and their determination to rebuild their lives is certainly an inspiration."