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Crucially, they are specifically trained and equipped to prevent sanitation related diseases such as diarrhoea.
The four-member team – comprising Helen Hawkings, Zahra Ali, Mujeeb Akhtar and Ima Bluemel – are based in Deyang and will stay in the country for at least a month. A logistics team – including John Cunningham, Gareth Tate and Kris Flegg – has joined them to support the distribution of relief items, including 5,000 tents donated by the British Red Cross.
Emergency relief
Zahra Ali, the team’s systems support officer, said: “We’ve all seen what a massive need there is, and also what a huge response there has been. So far, in terms of the delivery of aid and making sure survivors are safe, everything has been going well.
“However, under the current conditions it is absolutely critical that disease is not allowed to break out, and the work of our team will be vital in making sure that survivors – who have already been through so much – continue to stay healthy.”
More than 5 million people have been made homeless by the quake. The World Health Organisation is warning that shortages of clean water – combined with warm, humid weather – are creating a serious risk of epidemics that could claim even more lives.
John Cunningham added: “I know it’s a really desperate situation out here, with so many people killed or missing and so many people made homeless, but hopefully we can relieve some of the suffering.”
More about our China earthquake response
China earthquake information sheet
China earthquake in pictures | 
