ASIA/CAMBODIA - The nutrition of the population affected by severe flooding is at risk

Kratie (Agenzia Fides) - The severe floods in Cambodia have put at serious risk the nutrition of the country’s population. In 17 of the 24 provinces, about 300 people have been killed and other 34 000 have been forced to evacuate. According to the National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM), about 200 thousand hectares of rice fields, 10% of the harvest of the entire country have been destroyed. It is estimated that the damage, including destruction of over a thousand schools and approximately 2,400 kilometers of roads, have exceeded those reported after the floods of 2000. A third of the residents of Chhoer Teal Pluna Village, in the province of Kratie, in the northeast, have lost much of the entire rice crop. It is expected that the bags containing 20 kg of rice donated by the Red Cross to the affected families, will last a week and that people will soon need to buy food on credit. According to NCDM, about 80 000 families have received aid, but there are still some provinces which are penalized where no aid has arrived, such as in the south-east of Prey Vey. The long-term impact of flooding remains uncertain. The Agriculture Ministry says it plans to distribute rice seeds to the affected communities to compensate for the loss of destroyed crops. These floods have also extended the season of dengue hemorrhagic fever, due to which, in the first 9 months of this year, 54 children died compared with 28 in 2010. Outbreaks of dengue fever are fed by heavy rains that form pools of water and act as a receptacle for the eggs of the mosquito vector of the disease. Other health risks associated with flooding include diseases caused by contaminated water, such as respiratory infections and measles, as a result of reported damage to the facilities and toilets. The United Nations together with other NGOs are organizing to provide water purification tablets, water filters for water in ceramic and canisters for the storage of drinking water. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 25/10/2011)