UNICEF representative warns Filipino children displaced after flooding face disease risk

Jun 28 2011

About 450,000 children, displaced by severe flooding in the southern Philippines, could face an outbreak of diarrhea and pneumonia, Vanessa Tobin, UNICEF's representative in the Philippines, said on Sunday, Agence France-Presse reports.

Hundreds of tousands of people have been forced from their homes by flooding over the past two weeks, the news service notes (6/26). "We are working to prevent death and illnesses with government and partner agencies. We are supporting efforts in providing non-food items, including blankets, cooking utensils, water and sanitation, health kits, nutrition and child protection services," Tobin said, Xinhua reports (Mo, 6/26).