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GENEVA - The Red Cross called Friday for more aid for Chinese earthquake victims, saying it needed 59.5 million euros (92.7 million dollars) to help half-a-million people over the next three years.
"People have lost so much and are very uncertain about their future," a statement from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) quoted Pablo Medina, operations coordinator for the earthquake, as saying.
"With continued aftershocks and the persistent threat of floods and mudslides we need to ensure that they are receiving the support critical to long term survival," he said
The statement added: "The Red Cross Society of China has been working around the clock to provide basic relief, medical and shelter assistance and we are fully committed to supporting their efforts in any way we can."
"In the immediate term, the IFRC will support Chinese Red Cross volunteers and staff to meet the most critical needs of survivors, including emergency shelter, psychosocial support, the prevention and control of disease outbreaks and water and sanitation."
The IFRC was sending 100,000 tents to the affected areas of southwest China's Sichuan province, the statement said, and a mass sanitation unit had been deployed to provide facilities for 20,000 people.
"This emergency response unit (ERU) contains 400 latrines that can be easily assembled within hours, as well as necessary tools to reduce the risk of disease," said the IFRC's head of water and sanitation Uli Jaspers.
"In the coming days, the IFRC will also deploy two water and sanitation ERUs, each capable of providing clean drinking water for up to 15,000 people as well as a base camp' ERU -- a mobile headquarters to help coordinate the increasingly complex operation."
In the longer term, efforts will focus on building health centres and schools, along with permanent homes for about 2,000 rural families whose houses were completely destroyed in the May 12 earthquake in Sichuan province.
The IFRC issued a preliminary emergency appeal for 12.4 million euros three days after the massive quake, which devastated large areas of Sichuan and killed more than 68,800 people.
- AFP /ls
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