Health officials are warning of possible health crises in India's Assam state, where more than 4.5 million people have been affected by heavy flooding.
     The Red Cross is appealing for more than $3.5 million for relief operations, but a lack of clean drinking water, food shortages and inadequate shelter are making people vulnerable to illness. Doctors have warned disease could spread dramatically without outside assistance.
     Floodwaters receded Saturday, allowing doctors to deliver food and medicine to thousands of victims. They are in short supply of materials, though, and medicines are beginning to run out. "For the past few days we have been distributing relief materials to the affected people with whatever limited resources our local units had with them," said Red Cross official Renuka Devi Barkataki. "In the next couple of days more relief material will reach us and we will start massive operations from 16 August."
     However, more rains could come in the near future, further hindering relief efforts. Meanwhile, skin diseases and dysentery are becoming common, and malaria cases are beginning to surface. Doctors also say there is a growing risk of cholera.
     "There is every likelihood of disease spreading with the villagers going back to their homes," said Digen Nath, a health official in Assam. "The surroundings will be polluted and the water source filled with filth and mud, and hence the worry" (BBC Online, 13 Aug).