Disaster the world forgot

For victims of the Pakistani earthquake, this has become The Forgotten Disaster. The interest of volunteers and donors and the initial emotional rush to assist the relief effort has waned just as the need is greater than ever.
Try explaining "donor fatigue" to the earthquake survivors in Pakistan - up to three million of whom need food and shelter as winter blows into the Himalayas.
Or, explain it to hard-line Muslim groups providing humanitarian assistance while the West responds with far less magnanimity than it did after Asia's tsunami.
Perhaps because the October 8 quake came in the wake of the other large-scale disasters, perhaps because nations' aid budgets are stretched, or because the 7.6 tremor hasn't received 24/7 media coverage - whatever the reasons - the relief effort in mountainous northern Pakistan is in a cash crisis, and requires urgent response.
After a year of natural catastrophe in which tsunami and hurricane victims won global media support, survivors of the Pakistani quake faced their ordeal almost unseen
"We needed the money yesterday," United Nations emergency relief chief Jan Egeland said when the UN increased its request for aid from $312 million to $550 million. Before the appeal, the international community had delivered less than 30 percent of the original goal, yesterday had come and gone.
And now, the UN warns that unless the response is instantaneous, more people could die from hunger, cold, and disease than did in the initial quake, which killed about 87,000 people.
By comparison, more than 224,000 people perished in the Asian tsunami. But swift international intervention prevented more casualties from the aftermath. That simply isn't happening in Pakistan.
UN officials say they have only weeks to get six months' worth of food and shelter to millions of survivors before winter cuts off accessibility. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan called for a "Berlin airlift," but already the efforts are being held up as helicopters are grounded by bad weather.
The world hastened to respond to the tsunami, with the UN receiving 80 percent of its aid request in a mere 10 days. It was the holiday season, and Westerners were home watching gripping footage on TV. Perhaps it was the media saturation, the rarity and geographic spread of the tragedy, or maybe it was the fact that wealthy countries had tourists in the stricken areas. But all this combined to produce an outpouring of generosity.
This time, other news pushed quake coverage from the headlines. Americans are still processing hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma. Oxfam International describes 2005 as a year of "some of the worst natural disasters ever," with severe drought and hunger in Africa also unable to generate the donations needed there.
A humanitarian crisis compounded by winter in Pakistan should serve as ample impetus for giving, but the politics of the situation adds to the urgency. Obvious and full US assistance after the tsunami improved America's standing in the Muslim country of Indonesia, for instance.
Swift aid to Pakistan could change "the climate and the dynamic of how the United States is viewed," and that's important for combating terrorism, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said recently.
The US State Department responded to the UN's call by raising its earthquake commitment by just over $100 million. So far, it's spent nearly $25 million, and hopefully it will quickly follow through on this new pledge.
People in the West have failed to get a real picture of the earthquake's impact. Only when civil society in the West put pressure on their governments, can we expect the kind of quick response that is needed to keep the death toll from rising.
We need foreign help simply to cope with the disaster. About four million people are homeless. Farmers have lost their livelihoods as land has been destroyed through landslides and the emergence of undulating earth patterns.
Already about 3,000-4,000 people have had amputations because they could not get timely treatment to their injuries. Survivors are out in the cold, injured and depressed. People have seen this as an opportunity to dump their worn out belongings, expired food items and vast amounts of clothing. This is not what is needed. It lies on roads in heaps, with no takers.
What is wanted is shelter. Pakistan needs tents, waterproof and insulated - four million people means at least 500,000 tents, gas stoves and medical assistance.
Families continue to arrive in relief shelters, fleeing the sudden advance of winter and leaving behind villages damaged months ago in the disaster.
"The hygienic situation is fairly deplorable, so I would have to say that water and sanitation is our main priority right now."
The danger arises from the cold, from poor sanitary conditions and from inadequate nutrition. A number of children exposed to the winter cold are already reported to have died of pneumonia. Sadly, it is always children who are most vulnerable.
The ingredients for life-threatening illnesses are all to be found in the refugee camps: Makeshift, unsanitary cooking pots lie in the dirt in front of each tent. Poor diets and a lack of clean water have left many weak and vulnerable.
UNICEF Health Officer Tamur Mueenuddin is witnessing firsthand the growing problem in Muzaffarabad. "The hygienic situation is fairly deplorable, so I would have to say that water and sanitation is our main priority right now," he said.
"Children are malnourished, viral infections are rampant. They begin often with acute upper respiratory syndrome and sometimes the viral infections will include diarrhoea infections as well."
The most common health complaints are acute respiratory infections, gastro-enteritis and skin diseases and the ever-looming threat of measles, so far contained. On December 4, a 10-month old boy in a camp near Muzaffarabad became the first to die from measles. Fourteen cases of measles have been reported in one small camp in Hattian Bala, about 25 miles away. It was believed to be the first large outbreak in the quake zone. There are pregnant women in several camps, where anaemia is a constant risk.
UNICEF deserves credit for the part it continues to play in helping healthcare workers fight the threat of freezing temperatures and disease for children and women by providing emergency health supplies and health kits.
An individual "New Emergency Health Kit" (NEHK) contains enough drugs, medical supplies and equipment to cater for the needs of 10,000 people for three months.
So far, 60 packs have been distributed in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Dr Tamur Mueeneddin, UNICEF Health Project Officer, says: "We now have in place enough drugs and medical equipment to take 600,000 people - half of them children - through the health problems the winter ahead of us will bring."
The kits are a life-saving intervention where health facilities here have been totally destroyed and - particularly at this time of year, with heavy rain and the promise of snow - it is vital to have equipped healthcare facilities close at hand. But while 600,000 may be covered by the health kits, three million more people remain without proper medical aid. This is a potential time bomb.
The struggle against disease takes place on several fronts. A vital part of the effort is providing clean water. Then there is the lack of immunisation and vaccines. There are voices that ask why this was not anticipated and measures taken to meet the threat head-on.
The earthquake was no one's fault. The loss of thousands of lives as a result was no one's fault. But if we lose countless more lives due to disease, cold and hunger, whose fault is that?
Courtesy: CPQ