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| "People are dying from diseases related to the water and sanitation situation" - David Okello |
Aid drops begin in flood-hit Africa
Relief aid packages have arrived in eastern Kenya, where severe flooding is threatening health.
The US-African combined task force dropped 240 tonnes of supplies from the air.
The UN High Commission for Refugees has reported that an estimated 700,000 people in Kenya including Somali refugees have been badly affected.
David Okello, the World Health Organisation's representative in Kenya, said: "People are dying from diseases related to the water and sanitation situation. Malaria will become a very serious problem in the weeks to come."
There are low vaccination rates in the region and there is a lack of laboratory facilities to quickly identify the outbreak of diseases.
Gordon Denoon, of the charity Care International, said: "We have taken these measures to try and bring in supplies through an airdrop.
"It's a very extraordinary thing to do and we been forced to do it because the road to Garrissa has been cut by the flooding and the road is still flooded so it will be some time before we can get any heavy trucks through."
Source: itv, Dec 10, 2006