Red Cross Says Clean Water Urgent to Prevent Disease in Burma (1/2)

The secretary-general of the Red Cross Federation, Markus Niskala, describes Cyclone Nargis as a humanitarian catastrophe of staggering proportions.

"We estimate that up to two million people have been affected.Reports we are getting back from river state in the Delta region are that the situation for hundreds of thousands of people there is overwhelming. People do not have shelter. They do not have access to clean water and food and there is little access to even basic health care."

The Red Cross says the immediate focus of its appeal will be on meeting the basic survival needs of the victims. This means supplying them with emergency shelter, distributing relief and providing clean water to prevent epidemics.

It warns lack of clean water will be the biggest killer in Burma in the coming days. It says people are at risk of getting ill and dying from waterborne diseases including dysentery and diarrhea.

Director of Programs for the Red Cross, Thomas Gurtner, says only 20 to 30 percent of the survivors have received any assistance.

参考译文：

红十字会秘书长Markus Niskala认为”纳尔吉斯”风暴是惨绝人寰的人道主义灾难。

“我们估计多至200万的人受到了影响。从三角洲的河畔地区得到的报道表明，情况对那里的大量民众来说极其严峻。人们没有栖身之处，无法获得干净的水和食物，连基本的医疗也难以得到。”

红十字会说当务之急是可以满足受灾者的基本生存需求。即是为他们提供紧急住所，减轻他们的痛苦以及供应清洁用水以预防流行疾病。

该组织警示到，接下来的日子中，清洁用水的缺乏将会是缅甸最大的杀手。人们面临着染上疾病和死于包括痢疾,腹泻等水传染性疾病的危险。

红十字的项目负责人Thomas Gurtner说，只有百分之二十到百分之三十的幸存者得到了一些援助。