AFRICA/IVORY COAST - UNICEF: two million women and children without water and electricity risk disease

Rome (Fides Service) - UNICEF is deeply concerned for the crisis in Ivory Coast and its impact on the most vulnerable members of society, first of all 2 million women and children.
In the main towns in the north, without water and electricity supplies for a week, there is a danger of epidemics of disease such as cholera and acute diarrhoea with serious consequences for the functioning of health centres; scarcity of fuel for refrigerators to store medicines and vaccines; instability impedes access for aid workers and threatens their safety, while there is growing fear of violence and abuse against women and children.
UNICEF says the situation is serious not only in the north but also in the commercial capital Abidjan, with widespread insecurity and all schools closed .
To meet the emergency UNICEF sent emergency kits containing basic medicines, including antibiotics, hypodermic syringes, solutions for oral re-hydration, to 68 health centres in Bouake. Although it supplied the national public hygiene institute in Bouake with fuel for 3-5 days supplies of fuel are dwindling all over the north, and vaccine stocks may be lost. These conditions mean that a regional anti-polio vaccination campaign planned for 18-22 November could be cancelled. (AP) (13/11/2004 Agenzia Fides; Righe:24; Parole:267)