Myanmar Cyclone Nargis - Singapore Red Cross Action

Following the tropical cyclone Nargis which hit the coast of Myanmar and devastated large parts of the low-lying Irrawaddy delta, the Singapore Red Cross (SRC) has been working closely with the Myanmar Red Cross Society (MRCS) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).

To date, the SRC has contributed S$300,000 to purchase emergency relief items through the IFRC and sent S$700,000 woth of emergency relief items to Myanmar. The items comprise of 1,000 family tents, 35,000 family ready-to-eat food packs, over a million water purification tablets, 10 units of hand-powered water purification systems and 1,000 torchlights with spare batteries to MRCS for their relief operations and more.

Together with the deployment of a 8-member SRC medical team, over S$20,000 worth of medical relief supplies was brought along, with over 25 cartons of medical supplies comprising of gloves, surgical masks, gauze, bandages, dressing sets, surgical sets, syringes, thermometers, IV infusion sets and medications.

To aid the survivors that were the worst hit from the disaster, the SRC has also pledged to fund the building of 4 buildings - as holding areas - in the delta region. A second SRC medical team is also on standby.