International agencies continue to protest, as the restrictions have little effect on the Tigers but adversely affect the health sector and undermine the local economy. Respiratory infections and water borne diseases are also on the rise due to inadequate shelter, damage to sewage systems and unsanitary conditions in welfare camps. The second is the worsening in maternal and child health, especially the nutritional status of children, due to food shortages and the deterioration of health services. At Vavuniya in early September, the military appropriated medicines and medical equipment earmarked for Mullaitivu s Mallavi hospital. The medicines and equipment were taken to the Army hospital and desperate attempts by local government health authorities to retrieve them failed.
People injured in the war are unable to procure rehabilitative materials.
The Army continues to prevent raw materials needed to manufacture artificial limbs, which is affecting hundreds of people who have lost limbs in landmine explosions. There are only a few ambulances for transport of seriously ill patients to Anuradhapura or Vavuniya hospitals where more facilities are available. Three ambulances provided by international agencies for the Vanni region are still being held by the Army in Vavuniya. NGOs say the military has refused permission to supply dry rations to 120,000 of the 374,000 people who need humanitarian assistance in the Vanni. As a result of the restrictions, prices of essential commodities remain high in the area.