On Sunday IOM Yangon will take delivery of 13 metric tonnes of
emergency drugs donated by US NGO AmeriCares for victims of Cyclone
Nargis.

The drugs, which will arrive in Yangon from Amsterdam on Sunday
morning, will be distributed in close cooperation with the World
Health Organization and the Myanmar Ministry of Health, with which
IOM has had a Memorandum of Understanding since 2004.

IOM currently has two medical assessment teams in the Irrawaddy
delta region – the area worst hit by the cyclone. They are
currently working in Bogale and Mawlamyinegyun, but are expected to
return to Yangon at the weekend.

The cyclone, which struck Myanmar on May 2nd, devastated five of
the country's 17 states and divisions. Up to 128,000 people are
believed to be dead or missing, with a further 2.5 million severely
affected by the storm. Some 550,000 displaced people are believed
to be in government-run temporary shelter sites.

With the scale of the disaster still emerging, IOM has now
received USD1.88 million of funding to respond, including USD 1.45
million from the UN Central Emergency Fund (CERF), USD 400,000 from
Chevron Corporation and USD 31,500 from the Royal Danish Embassy in
Yangon.

It has appealed for a total of USD 8 million to fund emergency
shelter and medical projects under the UN Flash Appeal. Of this USD
5 million will go towards the delivery and provision of emergency
shelter kits, including plastic sheet and tents, and USD 3 million
for direct medical aid and support to local health authorities.

Funding received from the UN CERF this week will be split into
two areas – USD 1.2 million for the delivery of emergency
shelter and USD 250,000 for emergency primary health care clinics
in the worst-affected areas.

Procurement of large tents and lightweight pre-fabricated
buildings to house the clinics began today, according to IOM Yangon
Chief of Mission Federico Soda.

"We are also reinforcing our Yangon team and recruiting new
staff to implement the programme," he said.

IOM Yangon has also offered support to 30 Thai medics scheduled
to fly into Yangon tomorrow with a Royal Thai Airforce C-130 cargo
plane carrying relief goods.

The Thai medical team, which will work in Myanmar for two weeks,
are the first of a group of 168 aid workers from four ASEAN
countries invited by the Myanmar government to assist in the
emergency response.   

For more information please contact:

Chris Lom

IOM's regional office in Bangkok

Tel: +66.819275215

E-mail: "mailto:clom@iom.int">clom@iom.int