New York: The UN agency for children is rushing emergency relief supplies to the centre of China's Sichuan province, the area most devastated by last Monday's catastrophic earthquake.

The first aid package, comprising 1,000 tents, 15,000 blankets and 60,000 school kits, is expected to arrive in quake-affected areas shortly, the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) reported yesterday. Medicines, water, sanitation material and health equipment would follow soon after.

Yin Yin Nwe, UNICEF Representative in China, said the agency staff was doing its utmost to help Chinese authorities to care for and protect children affected by the temblor.

"It is truly encouraging to see how the whole country has rallied in support of the Government's relief response," Nwe said, adding that the relief situation had become critical.

"We need to move as fast as possible, with no delay, to speed life-saving medicines, vaccinations, water purification tablets, oral rehydration salts, obstetrics and surgical kits, water containers and the like. Families trying to cope will require basic material like collapsible water containers, soap (and) tarpaulins to survive after losing everything."

The UN World Health Organisation (WHO) has stressed that preventing outbreaks of communicable diseases has become the key public health issue, and it is working closely with the national health ministry to offer aid, supplies and guidance.

"The main needs now are water, sanitation and food," said WHO's Representative to China, Hans Troedsson. "Ensuring supply of food and safe drinking water and trying to restore good sanitation are critical because these are the basic transmission routes for communicable diseases."

Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had announced that up to USD 7 million will be released from the Central Emergency Response Fund to support UN relief efforts in China, where over 30,000 people died in the earthquake.
Source : PTI