JAKARTA, Indonesia, Jan. 22 -- The massive relief operation along the remote west coast of Aceh province, one of the areas hit hardest by the Dec. 26 tsunami, has brought food and medicine to most large population groups but continues to be hampered by insufficient coordination nearly a month after the tragedy, according to a draft report that offers the first detailed assessment of the effort.
Highly trained medical professionals abound -- at one point there were 20 surgeons in the west coast city of Meulaboh -- but primary health care workers are lacking, according to the report, compiled by 14 government and private agencies taking part in the work. There is an abundance of antibiotics but a shortage of dressings for wounds, stethoscopes and childbirth equipment.
Aid workers "do what they think is best, and sometimes a particular country or a particular agency may well send materials or equipment that may not be what is required at that stage," Rob Holden, worldwide operations manager for the World Health Organization, said in an interview in Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, on Saturday. "Or it may be that they haven't asked the wider question -- Is someone else sending that, do I need to send something else?"
The six-day survey, which was led by Holden, found that despite poor coordination, the number of cases of malaria, measles and diarrhea was lower than expected. Food was reaching most large population groups through civil authorities and the Indonesian military, but it was often not targeted at the people who most need it, such as pregnant women. Schools are ready to reopen in a few areas and markets are again selling locally produced food.
The report said that local and international aid groups needed to plan their efforts jointly. "If agencies . . . decide to set up an operation in a certain location, and you know nothing about it, it's very difficult to get coordinated," Holden said. The United Nations needs to send more personnel to areas with major concentrations of survivors, he said.
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