Sri Lanka IDP's suffer from chicken pox and diarrhea

by Suranee | May 10, 2009 at 08:38 pm

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Around 8,000 IDP's living in temporary camps are suffering from both chicken pox and diarrhea.

The Sri lanka Health Minister says the refugees had the disease before they escaped from the No Fire Zone. He also also confirmed that the acyclovir vaccine is being administered to control the spread of the disease

Nearly 8,000 IDPs now housed in temporary camps have come down with chicken pox, Minister of Healthcare Nimal Siripala de Silva said.

Minister Silva told The Nation that many were suffering from the disease before they escaped from the No Fire Zone and more IDPs are suffering from diarrhoea at the same time. “Diseases such as chicken pox spread faster when you have a large number of people living together in close quarters. Therefore, the doctors are using the acyclovir vaccine to control the spread of the disease,” Silva said.

The WHO attributed the increased number of diarrhea cases to inadequate latrines and safe drinking water to some of the recently established IDP camps.

Meanwhile health authorities have reported several cases of diarrhea at these camps, the Minister said. WHO attributed the increased number of diarrhea cases to inadequate latrines and safe drinking water to some of the recently established IDP camps.

Apart from chicken pox and diarrhea, the civilians in the IDP camps also suffer from viral flu, respiratory, lung and skin infections.

The Minister said that the IDPs were found to be already weak and in urgent need of nutritious food when they arrived in the cleared areas. A majority of the civilians entering the safe areas were already suffering from injuries or various illnesses such as chicken pox, viral flu, respiratory, lung and skin infections, and diarrhoea.