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Government, humanitarian agencies respond to flooding in Philippines, warn of disease threat

July 16, 2017

Philippines Assistant Health Secretary Eric Tayag said crowded conditions in evacuation centers "could lead to outbreaks of leptospirosis, diarrhea, cholera, hepatitis A, typhoid fever and dysentery, with children and pregnant women the most vulnerable," according to AFP (12/21). WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic said a lack of clean water and sanitation facilities could increase the risk of such diseases, and noted the WHO is working to establish a disease surveillance system and plans to send mosquito nets to the centers to help prevent malaria and dengue, which are endemic in the area, the U.N. News Centre reports (12/20).

This article was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.