MYANMAR: Heavy Rains Heighten Risk Of Disease Outbreaks Following Earthquake

Children in earthquake affected areas in Myanmar are at heightened risk of contracting waterborne diseases, such as diarrhoea and cholera, after heavy rains in recent days as well as water shortages, Save the Children warned.

Save the Children and its partners are seeing the needs of children firsthand in communities with limited access to clean water in the aftermath of the devastating 7.7 magnitude earthquake on 28 March.

In some areas, access to safe water has been severely disrupted with some primary water sources now contaminated and people forced to rely on spring or surface water. In the hardest hit areas, damaged pipelines have also cut access to spring water and rivers are far away. The lack of electricity in some areas has made it impossible to pump water.

Many families are living in makeshift shelters outside the ruins of their homes which give little protection from unseasonable storms of recent days. The rains are also exacerbating the risk of water and mosquito-borne diseases with pools of dirty, stagnant water. More rain is forecast for this week in areas where thousands of people are sleeping in the open [1].

Families are telling Save the Children that food and drinking water are their urgent priorities, but that they also need repairs to toilets and washing facilities which are crucial to limiting the spread of water and mosquito borne disease such as cholera and dengue and skin infections.

Myanmar has seen outbreaks of diseases such as acute watery diarrhoea and cholera before, and current emergency water supplies to affected areas are only a short-term solution. In the longer term, communities need sustainable and reliable sources of water.

Thein Htike-, 20, was in a small boat on a lake when the quake struck, throwing him and his friends overboard. While he was swimming to shore, he saw wooden houses in his village collapsing. His family were safe, but many people died or were injured, and nearly every family in his village lost their belongings.

Thein Htike- said:

"Our drinking water storage tank had collapsed, and we were left without safe water to drink. Donations didn’t arrive for two days. Until then, we had to filter the muddy water [from the lake] which used to be clean. Either way, we had no choice but to drink what we had, safe or not."After the quake, dead snails began floating on the surface [of the lake]. Some people said it was because of oxygen loss in the water, killing the aquatic life, but I’m not sure if that’s true.

"After two days, we got some clean drinking water, but once those supplies run out, we will face a serious crisis. Without long-term support, the lack of clean water may lead to long-term health problems in the village."

Last year, Thein Htike-’s village was hit by devasting floods, and they were only beginning to recover when the earthquake hit. Conflict and climate fueled disasters have left 6.3 million children among the 19.9 million people - or more than one third of the population - already in need of humanitarian support in Myanmar before the earthquake [2].

More than 17 million people across 57 townships of Myanmar’s 330 townships have been affected by the earthquake, according to the UN, with at least 3,500 people killed and nearly 5,000 injured [3].

The Department of Disaster Management and AHA Centre said about 69,000 people have been displaced by the earthquake [4].

Save the Children is responding in the earthquake affected areas alongside local partners to ensure children’s immediate needs are met, including food, water, shelter, personal hygiene kits and emergency health care services.

Jeremy Stoner, Interim Asia Regional Director, Save the Children said:

"The situation right now is desperate for children and their families. After being forced to flee from their ruined homes, they are now facing unseasonably early rains on top of the brutal heat. With clean water in short supply, it’s difficult for people to maintain proper hygiene - and that can lead to disease outbreaks. "We’re concerned that we could start seeing a growing number of children getting sick with illnesses like diarrhoea, as is often the case in the aftermath of crises like this where the scale of damage is so high."

Save the Children has been working in Myanmar since 1995, providing life-saving healthcare, food and nutrition, education and child protection programmes.

Notes: 

-denotes name changed to protect identity

[1] https://www.moezala.gov.mm/untimely-rainfall-warning-no-12

[2] https://reliefweb.int/report/myanmar/myanmar-humanitarian-needs-and-response-plan-2025-december-2024

[3] https://reliefweb.int/report/myanmar/myanmar-earthquake-flash-update-3-3-april-2025

[4] https://ahacentre.org/situation-update/situation-update-no-5-m7-7-earthquake-in-myanmar-and-thailand-6-april-2025/

About Save the Children NZ:

Save the Children works in 120 countries across the world. The organisation responds to emergencies and works with children and their communities to ensure they survive, learn and are protected.

Save the Children NZ currently supports international programmes in Fiji, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Laos, Nepal, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. Areas of work include child protection, education and literacy, disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation, and alleviating child poverty.

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