Summer 2005 Issue
Fund Helps CDC Respond to Tsunami and Future Disasters
In the wake of the December 2004 tsunami, the CDC Foundation established a new Global Disaster Response Fund to make it possible for people to contribute to CDC’s response efforts and to help meet the needs of CDC experts who travel to disaster-affected areas.
Following the tsunami, CDC used approximately $4,000 from the fund to purchase special digital cameras with global satellite positioning technology. The cameras enable CDC responders in the field to take photos stamped with precise map coordinates. In addition, CDC’s Safe Water experts used more than $10,000 to help bring safe drinking water to communities in Sri Lanka affected by the tsunami. These purchases were made possible by contributions, totaling $17,265, from many CDC Foundation friends and partners. An additional in-kind gift valued at $21,297 came from HP in the form of equipment – from GPS printers to satellite phones – for use in CDC’s Marcus Emergency Operations Center.
The CDC Foundation continues to seek donations for the Global Disaster Response Fund which provides immediate, flexible resources to CDC experts addressing public health emergencies around the world – whether natural disasters like the tsunami, emerging diseases like avian influenza, or manmade biological threats.
Bringing Safe Water to Sri Lanka
With support from the Foundation’s Global Disaster Response Fund, Pavani Kalluri, a CDC medical epidemiologist, recently traveled to Sri Lanka to help a team of local public health professionals launch a Safe Water System program in eight communities affected by the tsunami. The tsunami left tens of thousands of Sri Lankans homeless and living in temporary shelters. Currently these families are relying on water from tanker trunks filled from the municipal water supply. While this water is safe, the team is concerned that it may become contaminated through improper storage and handling after it leaves the trucks. CDC’s Safe Water System teaches families to keep their drinking water safe by treating water with diluted chlorine bleach; storing it safely in narrow-mouthed, lidded vessels; and washing their hands with soap and water.
“Using tanker trunks to provide water is very expensive,” says Kalluri. “If the tanker truck system ends, the Safe Water System will already be in place to help families disinfect their water at the household level.” The team’s analysis also indicated that populations who live farther inland do not have access to the municipal water system and rely on potentially unsafe water sources like unprotected wells and open springs. Kalluri hopes that the program’s success in the eight tsunami-affected communities will demonstrate that the Safe Water System is a viable option for many Sri Lankan communities at risk of diarrheal disease and death from unsafe drinking water.
Photo caption: A photo taken by CDC’s response team in Banda Ache, Indonesia following the tsunami of December 2004.