The Singapore Red Cross is deploying two response teams to the badly-hit Minkin Township in the Sagaing Region, Myanmar, to serve over 1,200 families across seven villages, according to a press release on August 28.
Together with partners on the ground, the first team will distribute food such as beans, rice and cooking oil, as well as blankets to villagers. This will be followed by a 9-man medical team comprising three doctors, four nurses and two aid workers, who will serve the same community on a 6-day mission commencing next week.
“We are activating our healthcare volunteers to render essential basic medical care to the villagers largely to mitigate any onset of water-borne and vector-borne diseases as a result of the standing and slow-receding waters. Many villagers, whose lives have already been severely affected by the floods, are also susceptible to medical conditions such as wound and skin infections, respiratory infections, and even malaria,” said Benjamin William, SRC’s Secretary General/CEO. “We will continue to monitor the situation and work closely with our partners on the ground for relief and recovery efforts.”
Approximately 1 million people - of whom 400,000 reside in the three states of Chin, Magway and Sagaing - are affected by severe floods that started in July 2015.