Help The Victims of SIDR

On November 15, a destructive, category 4 cyclone, Sidr, smashed into the southwestern coast of Bangladesh devastating the area known as the Sundarbans and leaving thousands of casualties in its wake. While Dhaka itself was largely spared, those in the southwest corner of the country are struggling to survive as new outbreaks of disease form and shortages of water, and shelter occur in places relief agencies have not yet been able to reach.

ICDDR,B’s Dhaka Hospital has seen an increase in patient numbers each day since the Sidr made landfall and yesterday we admitted 423 patients for treatment. According to the hospital’s Chief Physician and Administrator, Mark Pietroni, patient numbers at the Dhaka Hospital have almost doubled from normal levels and it appears that large numbers of people are moving into the city to find refuge and treatment. Many of the patients now arriving are suffering severe dehydration, which probably reflects conditions here in the city and also in the south where the country was hit harder by Cyclone Sidr. The Centre is now considering how it can best serve the people of Bangladesh during this emergency and has offered to work with the Government of Bangladesh to help save lives in any capacity possible. In the meantime, we have erected additional tents at our Dhaka Hospital to treat the additional patients arriving at our doors and as outbreaks of disease increase we remain, as always, ready to assist those in need.
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