MANILA – A ranking official of the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned the government over a possible increase in the number of Filipino flood victims suffering from mental disorders.
Dr. Shin Young Soo, the regional director of the WHO Western Pacific based in Manila, explained that many of the Filipinos, especially those who continue to live in flooded areas, are anxious and distressed after the turmoil and ordeal they have undergone.
“That is a perfectly normal reaction,” Shin pointed out. “But the danger is that they become frustrated and angry if their physical and mental needs are not taken care of as the days go by.”
Estimates are that there are more than three million Filipinos who were forced to flee their homes due to massive flooding brought by four recent typhoons that also inflicted heavy damage, death and destruction on the main island of Luzon, including Metro Manila.
In Southern Luzon, for instance, thousands of families continue to live in areas that remain flooded more than a month after the typhoons hit the country.
This is particularly true for those living along the coastal areas of Laguna de Bay, one of Southeast Asia’s largest freshwater lakes, that border on Metro Manila as well as the provinces of Rizal and Laguna in Southern Luzon, officials said.
Fears are that the affected residents would be forced to spend Christmas and even New Year in knee-deep waters because the floodwaters, brought by the typhoons, have yet to recede.
According to Shin, nearly 102,000 people remain in evacuation centers and often in dire and lamentable circumstances.
Because of this, the WHO official warned that tens of thousands of people are at risk of contracting leptospirosis, a bacterial disease caused by contact with water contaminated with urine from rats and other animals.
But more than that, Shin alerted health officials to be on the lookout for signs of deteriorating mental state among the victims such as sleeplessness, anti-social behavior and even suicidal tendencies.
He said: “This is about the time when we might be seeing worrying reactions such as these so government officials and relief workers should be on the lookout for such signs.”
But health authorities should not only focus their attention on the flood victims, Shin said. He added they should also consider the health, mental and physical conditions of the thousands of relief workers, many of whom have been on duty seven days a week since typhoon “Ondoy” (international codename Ketsana) brought record rain that inundated Metro Manila and neighboring areas in Central and Southern Luzon on September 26.
“Confronting danger and human misery for days on end, often without proper rest, exacts a heavy emotional toll on these people,” Shin pointed out.
He cited as an example news reports both in the printed media and on TV, accompanied by photos and footages of rescue workers digging for days through mud and rock to reach survivors, only to find decomposing bodies. In some areas, he noted that rescuers braved raging floodwaters to bring to safety residents stranded on rooftops.
As such, Shin recommended that agencies involved in responding to the floods can support their workers by being aware of signs of burnout and by having systems in place to respond in the most appropriate manner.
Shin said these include simple measures such as ensuring that their relief and rescue workers have adequate food, hygiene and accommodation, that they work in shifts of no more than 12 hours and that they take regular breaks.
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