Russia and Ukraine have previously blamed each other for the collapse of the Soviet-era Kakhovka hydroelectric dam, which sent water flooding through a war zone in southern Ukraine, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee their homes.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Photo: Reuters
“The impact of the region’s water supply, sanitation and public health services cannot be underestimated,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press conference.
"WHO has urgently supported authorities and health workers in measures to prevent waterborne diseases and improve disease surveillance," he added.
WHO technical officer Teresa Zakaria said the risk of a cholera outbreak was possible due to the pathogen persisting in the environment. She said WHO was working with the Ukrainian Ministry of Health to put in place mechanisms to ensure vaccines could be imported if needed.
“We’re trying to address quite a few of the real health risks associated with flooding, from trauma to drowning, water-borne diseases as well as all the potential impacts of chronic treatment disruption,” she added.
The giant Kakhovka Dam on the Dnipro River, which separates Russian and Ukrainian forces and people on both sides of the front line, burst on Tuesday. WHO emergencies director Mike Ryan said the WHO had offered assistance to Russian-controlled areas but its operational presence was “primarily” on the Ukrainian side.
He said Russia had assured the WHO that people living in the areas it occupied were “well monitored, well cared for, well supplied with food”.
The governor of Russia's Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo, said the water level of the Dnipro River had peaked following flooding caused by a dam failure at the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant.
"The water level has largely peaked. Water in the Novaya Kakhovka municipality has begun to recede. However, large areas in the Aleshkino and Golaya Pristan city districts remain flooded," he said.
Officials will not be able to assess the damage until floodwaters fully recede, he said.
Bui Huy (according to WHO, TASS, Reuters)
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