The Nargis cyclone has caused the death of at least 10,000 people along with severe material and structural damage. Three days after the cyclone, large parts of the population remain without drinking water, food or shelter.
MSF teams in Yangon have started setting up a first emergency response, including distribution of food, plastic sheeting and the chlorination of water. In Daala and Twante, where in some places up to 80% of houses have been destroyed and flood waters reached up to a metre high, MSF has organized a first emergency response by distributing food, water and other emergency items for 5,000 people.
MSF also has opened its four clinics in other townships of Yangon, usually focusing on maternal and child healthcare, sexually transmitted diseases (STI) and HIV/Aids, to anyone with health needs related to the cyclone.
While teams have not seen injuries on a significant scale within Yangon, we suspect casualties are much higher outside. MSF is making every effort to get to these areas to make an assessment.
Across Myanmar, families who have lost their homes are now staying in public buildings that survived the cyclone. MSF's priority here is to provide drinking water, food and emergency items. Worryingly for a population already living under precarious conditions, prices of basic food, including rice, have already doubled in the last few days.