Although some humanitarian organisations are still encountering obstacles in providing aid to the survivors of the cyclone that hit Burma in May, a team of doctors and nurses from Singapore has been able to treat some 5000 patients.

The team of 23, now back home, was based for two weeks at a hospital in the township of Twan Te, roughly an hour’s drive south west of Rangoon. Dispatched under three separate banners—the Ministry of Health, the Singapore Red Cross, and a non-governmental humanitarian charity called Mercy Relief—they united on arrival to share expertise and resources.

Some international aid had reached the people of Twan Te, many of whom are living in tented refugee camps with access to water filtration systems donated from overseas. Other residents had taken shelter in the town’s monasteries.

Rebuilding of damaged houses has already begun, the Singaporean team says. Many …