The situation on the ground in the Irrawaddy Delta remains dire today, ten days after the impact of tropical cyclone Nargis. International health and humanitarian aid workers are gravely concerned at the delays in the delivery of humanitarian assistance to the beleaguered region. The death toll was revised over the weekend, with state media releasing figures of 28, 458 dead and just over 33 000 still missing. Aid agencies however have estimated that the death toll could be as high as 100 000.

Aid has begun to trickle into the affected areas, though the efforts to provide food, shelter and clean drinking water have been hampered by several factors. Although millions of dollars worth of aid has already been pledged by international donors, relief efforts have been totally inadequate due to the stubborn refusal of the regime to allow international personnel to accompany and monitor the distribution of aid supplies. Despite the obvious incompetence of the military regime to adequately deal with the crisis, the Generals still seek to maintain an image of having the situation firmly under control. However, footage released over the weekend shows aid supplies being unloaded painfully slowly in airports by hand. Meanwhile, in the Irrawaddy Delta, there are still regions that have received no aid whatsoever.

Besides the regimes recalcitrance over the issue of international aid, there have been other factors interfering with the relief effort. The cyclone has severely affected the transportation routes that would allow delivery of much needed aid to remote areas. Roads are still cut in low lying areas and boats that would have aided relief efforts are destroyed in their docks. It remains to be seen whether the military will have the logistical capability of delivering aid to the worst affected regions by airplane and helicopter.

International assessors have grave concerns today as to the health care situation in the country. With many areas of the Irrawaddy Delta still inundated, concerns have inevitably arisen concerning the threat of water-borne disease. In some areas that have not been reached by the relief effort, some survivors have been forced to drink any water available, even though some water sources are contaminated with the bodies of human victims, animals and saltwater from the cyclone. Health experts from WHO, UNICEF and World Vision, expressed concern over the weekend about the threat of dysentery, cholera, and measles. Further delays in health aid delivery may also allow time for mosquito-borne diseases such as Malaria and Dengue fever to manifest.

Incredibly, whilst this humanitarian disaster slowly unfolds, the regime has pushed ahead with the constitutional referendum in parts of the country that have not been affected by the tropical cyclone, thereby diverting much needed resources away from the now time-critical efforts to bring food, shelter, medicine and clean drinking water to the victims of the natural disaster.