South Asia earthquake and tsunamis: Indonesia
Close to the epicentre of the earthquake, the area of Aceh was particularly affected by the tsunami. More than 720,000 people in Aceh were directly affected. Relief delivery is hampered by extensive damage to transportation infrastructures - parts of Aceh remain inaccessible. A bottleneck of humanitarian relief supplies in Jakarta is occurring, as supplies are not forwarded to Aceh. Damage to public health infrastructure is extensive. 77 health centres in Aceh have been damaged or destroyed. In both Banda and Meulaboh, only one hospital remains functional on the outskirts of each city. Field hospitals are deployed throughout Aceh. Relief efforts remain in the acute phase, although significant progress has been achieved in supplying safe water to some areas. But with no water distribution system left intact and no large reservoirs available, water is having to be distributed from centralized points, requiring large-scale production, large capacity containers and watering points.
Health priorities
- Urgently increase access to safe water supplies to displaced populations in Aceh
- Urgently strengthen sanitation infrastructure
- Increase access to hardest-hit areas of western coast, which remains isolated and a full assessment of health needs is still not available
Last update 26 January 2010