17 Aug 2012

SYRIA / HUMANITARIAN UPDATE

The escalating violence in Syria is continuing to put a strain on the country’s health services, The World Health Organization (WHO) said today (17 August), and the destruction of the sanitation system in Damascus appears to be contaminating water supplies exacerbating health risks. CH UNTV

Posted at: August 17, 2012 11:47 am

Duration: 01:45

Available in: SD

DOWNLOAD

Full script

STORY:  SYRIA / HUMANITARIAN UPDATE
TRT:  1.45
SOURCE: CH UNTV 
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE:      17 AUGUST 2012, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND / FILE

SHOTLIST:

FILE – RECENT, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations Palais

17 AUGUST 2012, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

2. Wide shot, press conference
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Richard Brennan, Director Emergency Risk Management, World Health Organization (WHO):
"We have heard through the Ministry of Health itself that an estimated 38 hospitals and 149 other clinics have been substantially damaged or destroyed, so this clearly worsens the access to health care.  There are also concerns to the broader public health infrastructure, water supplies, sewerage systems and so on, and that's why we are redoubling our efforts in monitoring the rates of disease and this early identification of increased rates of diarrhoea in Damascus, in rural Damascus, our early investigations suggest that this is because of contamination of the water supply due to destruction of the sewerage system."   
4. Med shot, journalists
5.  SOUNDBITE (English) Adrian Edwards, Spokesman, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR):
"There has been a further sharp rise in the numbers of Syrians fleeing to Turkey in particular between Tuesday and Wednesday. Three and half thousand people crossed into the provinces of Kilis and Hatay according to local officials."
6. Close up, journalist
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Adrian Edwards, Spokesman, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR):
"With these latest arrivals there are now almost 65 thousand Syrians in the nine camps in Turkey though not all are yet formally registered. To put this in perspective, about forty percent have arrived there during August."
8. Wide shot, journalists

STORYLINE:

The escalating violence in Syria is continuing to put a strain on the country's health services, The World Health Organization (WHO) said today (17 August), and the destruction of the sanitation system in Damascus appears to be contaminating water supplies exacerbating health risks.

The Director of WHO's emergency risk management unit, Richard Brennan told journalists in Geneva that 38 hospitals and 149 clinics have been damaged or destroyed in the conflict, and the organization is redoubling its efforts in the face the growing public health concerns.

Meanwhile, the numbers of refugees fleeing the country continue to grow, particularly those crossing over to Turkey. In the past couple of days, 3500 people arrived in Turkey, a sharp increase on previous figures. This brings the number of registered Syrian refugees in Turkey to 65,000, the spokesman for the UN Refugee Agency said, though the actual number may be higher as not all are registered yet. Forty percent of these, Adrian Edwards added, have arrived during August.

The number of formally registered Syrian refugees who have fled to the neighbouring countries of Turkey, Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan, now totals 170,116.