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India

Save the Children launches appeal to get urgently-needed help to 900,000 children affected by floods in India

Around 900,000 children are in desperate need of clean water, medical care and food after flash floods hit Andhra Pradesh in India earlier this month, warns Save the Children.

The aid agency, which has been responding to the crisis since the floods began in early October, is today launching a public appeal to raise enough money to provide emergency relief to 15,000 children and 5000 families in the region.

Save the Children says that unless more help reaches families living in the flooded areas, thousands of children will be at risk of contracting diarrhoea and other water-borne diseases.

The danger to children is even more acute because of the high rates of malnutrition in the area. Thomas Chandy, CEO of Save the Children, said. "With child malnutrition being high in the region and access to clean water and sanitation still being low, the risk of children dying due to a water-borne epidemic remains high."

"Children are most vulnerable to this kind of emergency, particularly to easily preventable diseases such as diarrhoea, one of the biggest killers of children in India. These floods come on top of an already dire situation, and we urgently need more money to increase our emergency response and save children's lives."

Two hundred villages have been completely submerged by the floods. Government figures confirm 63 people have died, but Save the Children fears that the toll could rise as many villages are still under water.

Save the Children is responding with vital hygiene kits to ensure that children and families in the worst-affected areas of Mahbubnagar and Kurnool districts in Andhra Pradesh have access to essential medical supplies and clean water. Household utility kits containing the essentials to stay warm and prepare basic meals are also being distributed.

Please help us to reach more children:

=A313 would ensure that a family of 5 receives a set of kitchen utensils including a stove and fuel, pots and pans, plates and glasses.

=A320 would ensure that a family of 6 receives a one month supply of hygiene products including soap, oral rehydration salts, chlorine tablets and halogen tablets.

=A340 would ensure that 120 children receive a cooked meal for one day.

To donate, contact us via Mobile sms SAVE AP to 55050 or please log on www.savethechildren.in

Notes to editors:

12.7% of children in Andhra Pradesh are acutely malnourished. The figure is 13% is rural areas, according to the National Family and Health Survey 3.

The WHO global emergency threshold for malnutrition anywhere in the world is 15%.

For more information, photographs, interviews, please contact Priya Subramanian, Media and Communications Manager, at +91 11 4229 4946 or email: a.subramanian@savethechildren.in

Alternatively, call Save the Children's media unit on +44 207 012 6841 / +44 7831 650 409 (24-hour line) or email media@savethechildren.org.uk

We're the world's independent children's charity. We're outraged that millions of children are still denied proper healthcare, food, education and protection. We're working flat out to get every child their rights and we're determined to make further, faster changes. How many? How fast? It's up to you. For further information about our work please visit www.savethechildren.org.uk