May 16 (Bloomberg) -- As many as 500,000 children are in need of aid in Myanmar after Tropical Cyclone Nargis hit the country two weeks ago, World Vision said.
Thousands have been forced to flee from villages flattened in the southern Irrawaddy River delta, the region worst hit by the cyclone that may have killed as many as 100,000 people, the aid group said in a report from its teams in Myanmar. The death toll has reached almost 78,000 people, the Associated Press cited state television as saying, with another 56,000 missing.
The children witnessed ``unimaginable horrors such as losing loved ones and having to flee their homes,'' according to Samson Jeyakumar, U.S.-based World Vision's child protection specialist. Many are orphaned or injured, he said.
Myanmar, a country of 48 million people ruled by the military since 1962, has accepted a fraction of the relief offered by the world. The United Nations says as many as 2.5 million people affected by the cyclone are facing catastrophe from disease unless aid teams are allowed into the country.
The junta insists it can cope with the disaster itself and is stopping international relief workers from traveling to the delta region from Yangon, Tim Costello, chief executive of World Vision Australia, said by phone from the former capital today.
``They're very, very efficient at stopping'' aid workers, he said. ``If there was equal efficiency in delivering aid we'd be pleased.''
The cyclone is the worst natural disaster to hit Southeast Asia since the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed more than 220,000 people.
Scarcity, Famine
``The impact of the cyclone on Myanmar will be much greater economically and long-lasting than the tsunami was on Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Thailand, because the areas that have been hit are the food basket,'' said Costello, who has been in Yangon for eight days. ``We're looking potentially at food scarcity and famine.''
The worst-affected areas produce most of Myanmar's rice, fish and pork, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization said last week. Prices of goods have at least doubled since the cyclone struck, according to the UN.
General Thein Sein, Myanmar's prime minister, visited a relief camp in Twantay township yesterday, the state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported. The general flew by helicopter to Labutta May 13, his first trip to the delta region since the disaster, the newspaper reported yesterday.
World Vision established 37 ``friendly spaces'' catering for about 100 children apiece in and around Yangon. The centers are designed to address children's ``psychosocial'' needs and boost their resilience to allow them to face the future, the group said.
In Distress
Children who experience catastrophic situations often display symptoms of psychological distress including flashbacks of the event, nightmares and withdrawal, it said.
World Vision plans to establish more centers in the delta region where tens of thousands of children are leaving destroyed villages to search for food and shelter.
Hundreds of orphans are currently staying in monasteries, schools and other buildings, World Vision said.
The UN and Ministry of Health are giving Vitamin A supplements to young children in temporary settlements, the world body said. Before the cyclone struck, about one in three children in the country formerly known as Burma were already malnourished, according to the UN.
The UN estimates the toll could rise to as many as 100,000 people, adding that as many as half a million have gathered in improvised camps scattered across the delta.
Air-Borne Diseases
Bednets, medicines and other supplies needed to prevent outbreaks of air-borne diseases arrived in Myanmar yesterday, the UN's World Health Organization said in a statement. The WHO and other groups are setting up emergency medical clinics.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies says conditions in Myanmar will become harder if rain forecast for the next few days hits the worst-affected areas.
``We could see the worst possible scenario,'' the federation's Joe Lowry said yesterday in Bangkok after a visit to Yangon. ``We fear that if floodwaters rise any further people will be forced to move again and put a significant strain on already stretched resources.''
Five U.S. planes ferried food, water and shelter into Yangon yesterday, with more flights planned tomorrow, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in Washington. The U.S. has delivered enough aid to help about 135,000 people this week, leaving the Myanmar government to distribute it.
About 30 Thai doctors and nurses are scheduled to leave today for Myanmar, Thai Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama said. The junta has ignored demands by the U.S., Britain and the UN to admit relief workers, boats and helicopters.
``We are trying to convince them to allow rescue teams,'' Noppadon said in a television interview from Bangkok yesterday, ``However, we can't put pressure on them. We are going to talk and convince them.''
To contact the reporter on this story: Michael Heath in Sydney at mheath1@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Tighe at ptighe@bloomberg.net
Chuvas fortes atingiram nesta sexta-feira o delta do rio , no sul de , agravando ainda mais a situação de cerca de 2,5 milhões de afetados pelo  e atrapalhando o já lento trabalho de auxílio oferecido pelo regime militar local.

Em Kunyangon, cerca de 100 km a sudoeste de Yangun, milhares de homens, mulheres e crianças, expostos à chuva e à lama, pedem ajuda sempre que passa qualquer veículo. Há rumores de que soldados estariam se apropriando de caminhões com água, alimentos e cobertores.

Já houve casos de cólera entre os sobreviventes do ciclone, mas a  (OMS) disse que a incidência é a mesma de outros anos. Em alguns monastérios, escolas e outros abrigos para refugiados também há casos de diarréias e infecções cutâneas. A OMS afirmou que, em casos de desastre natural, o auge da ameaça de epidemias ocorre num prazo de 10 a 30 dias. O Nargis passou pelo delta há 14 dias.

O comissário europeu de Ajuda Humanitária, Louis Michel, reuniu-se na quinta-feira com ministros birmaneses em Yangun e pediu a eles que autorizem a entrada de mais equipamentos e funcionários humanitários estrangeiros. Mas saiu do encontro frustrado, inclusive porque horas antes os generais haviam sinalizado a intenção de não recuar nas restrições.

"As relações entre Mianmar e a comunidade internacional são difíceis", afirmou ele à agência de notícias "Reuters". "Mas isso não é problema meu. A hora não é para discussão política. A hora é de entregar ajuda para salvar vidas."

Potências estrangeiras sugerem que o regime militar, em vigor há 46 anos, está dificultando o acesso de estrangeiros ao delta por questões políticas. A  diz que o ciclone matou até 128 mil pessoas. O governo local, porém, fala em mais de 30 mil.




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