The immediate priorities in responding to Sunday’s tsunami disaster are clear: The missing have to be accounted for and resources have to be marshalled to help the millions who survived the disaster. Tents to house the homeless, food, medical supplies and sanitation equipment are urgently needed. Unless medical aid is made available quickly, and portable sanitation facilities provided, there is a serious risk of a public health disaster.

Much, however, will remain to be done even after all this has been accomplished. Beyond the first aid, there is the task of helping the victim nations to recover, and that will include restoring the infrastructure that has been destroyed &045; the schools, clinics, roads, businesses and homes. As many as one million people may have lost their homes in Indonesia alone, and the number of homeless may be similarly high in Sri Lanka. Assistance will be required to help the victims rebuild their lives, for most of them live in developing countries.

In the long term, the region must develop an effective early-warning system to deal with tsunamis. One of the most poignant remarks heard in the past two days came from the director of the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, who said his office tried to send out a warning soon after the earthquake off Sumatra’s northern tip occurred, but they did not &uot;have contacts in our address book for anybody in that part of the world.&uot; This cannot be allowed to happen again.

&045; The Straits Times, Singapore