dysentery and cholera. This threat is exacerbated by the lack of access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. Many displaced persons were observed to be collecting drinking water from rivers, streams and unprotected shallow wells while using open areas for sanitation. The risk of an epidemic is likely to increase dramatically with the start of the rainy season towards OctoberNovember. The UNCT interim response plan aims to provide assistance in water and sanitation to 40,000 households (200,000 persons), at a total cost of USD 1.7 million over three months. Immediate required interventions include: water supply to affected populations; distribution of water treatment tablets; plastic containers and soap; plastic sheeting for temporary pit latrines; supply of chloride/lime for environmental disinfection; and management of solid waste. It is the opinion of the mission, however, that this figure will have to be revised upwards. 3.6.3 Food and Nutrition The displacement of people has reduced access to food, owing to loss of income as well as loss of supply from the informal sector, the latter having been largely dismantled. Furthermore, commodities such as bread, oil and sugar are in short supply and prices have been rising. In the month prior to the Operation, prices of sugar and cooking oil went up by 61% and 53%, respectively.57 It is therefore likely that a high number of affected households will be hard placed to purchase food and to ensure adequate nutrition in coming months.58 This will have considerable impact on pregnant women, breast-feeding mothers and children. Because many among the displaced remain scattered in different locations and are highly mobile, it is difficult to identify all those in need of immediate food assistance. Furthermore, many among those being moved to rural areas are arriving in communities that are already food insecure, where there is little humanitarian presence. The UN interim response plan is targeting 27,000 households (135,000 persons) for food assistance over three months, at a cost of USD 1.1 million. Priority interventions include: the provision of food packs to particularly vulnerable households; distribution of cooked meals at transit camps; interventions to prevent deterioration of nutrition among children; and the establishment of a nutrition surveillance system in areas where people have resettled. It is the opinion of the mission, however, that this figure will have to be revised upwards. 3.6.4 Basic Health Services The combination of overcrowding for evicted persons living with friends and relatives and hardship for those sleeping out in the open will have a direct consequence in terms of other communicable diseases such as pneumonia and tuberculosis. Anecdotal evidence suggests that this trend is already emerging with reported deaths among displaced children due to respiratory infections. The most affected group will likely be the chronically ill and people living with 57 58 FEWS: Zimbabwe Food Security Update, May 2005. WFP Zimbabwe: Critical Resource Needs, June 2005. 38