UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund, is working closely with the Indian government in the hectic relief work after the Dec. 26 tidal waves struck the country's southern states and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a UNICEF state representative said in Chennai on Friday.

The UN agency has a long history of relations with the Indian government, therefore it can work closely with the central and state governments in the hour of need, Timothy Schaffter told Xinhua.

The UNICEF office in Chennai, state capital of Tamil Nadu, hosts a coordination team comprising 18 staff to strengthen information flow regarding the situation in the tsunami-devastated areas and to facilitate UN system programs. And a 24-hour emergency operation center established since Dec. 26 at the officeis fully functional.

The critical areas UNICEF has been involved in are immunization, water and sanitation, health and technical assistance, said Shaffter, adding it will also collaborate with the Indian government for the longer term job of helping children deal with the "emotional and psychological" stress of the disaster.

The UNICEF office is now supporting a campaign for immunizing children in the coastal villages and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to ward off any possible threat of an epidemic outbreak. The children would be provided doses of measles, Vitamin A, etc, apart from essential drugs.

"There are few isolated cases of measles in the affected areas, but there is no report on outbreak of epidemics," said Schaffter.

When asked about the UNICEF office's action plan in the coming days, Shaffter said the agency will support children in having a safe and secure environment; get children back to school; supply them with clean drinking water and help them recover as soon as possible from the trauma of the tsunami disaster.

Besides UNICEF, UN Development Program and other international organizations such as the World Health Organization are also supporting the Indian central and state governments in the relief work.

The massive quake measuring 8.7 on the Richter scale and the resultant tidal waves in the Indian Ocean on Dec. 26 has claimed 9,995 Indians' lives and 5,689 people are still missing, said a status report issued Friday by the Home Ministry.

(Xinhua News Agency January 8, 2005)