A Westcountry businessman who developed personal emergency pods which can be parachuted in to victims of natural disasters has spoken of his frustration that no major charity or organisation has adopted the idea.
Nick Sprague launched his charity Parabottle after the Haiti earthquake in 2010 and has so far raised £30,000 to develop the airborne system for distributing food and water.
Each Parabottle can contain a bottle of water, a foil blanket and matches, and are designed to support life for a minimum of 24 hours or before the arrival of conventional aid. The contents can also be adapted to the specific climate and risks of individual disaster areas.
In a crisis, tens of thousands of the pods can be safely air-dropped across disaster zones where road and air infrastructure have been damaged. But Mr Sprague, who is based in Exeter, said despite talks no-one had yet taken up the idea. He spoke out as concerns grow about the speed of the aid response in the typhoon-ravaged Philippines.
"It's very frustrating that the Disasters Emergency Committee, made up of the top 14 aid charities, has not grasped the nettle and put their considerable resources into making Parabottle a reality," said Mr Sprague, who is also chairman of Exeter-based Cobell, one of Europe's leading suppliers of fruit and vegetable juice concentrates.
"We have a golden opportunity to take a British invention and progress through the stages of development and approval to offer a low-cost, life-saving device.
"The affected countries can also benefit in times of non disaster by taking the components and packing them into each Parabottle. This brings much-needed employment to these areas and helps them to help themselves."
Concerns have been mounting that aid is failing to reach those in greatest need in the Philippines as agencies battle blocked roads, closed ports, an ill-equipped airport and increasing security concerns. Helston-based ShelterBox is among those on the ground.
The country has become increasingly volatile as people become desperate for food and water, with some resorting to force. More than 4,400 people are known to have died with the death toll predicted to rise to some 10,000 people.
However, Oxfam has raised concerns about the initiative to parachute drop aid packages to areas hit by disasters, saying that it could cause conflicts between survivors and not help the vulnerable.
Oxfam said there had to be a system of "receiving and distributing" the aid.
A spokeswoman from the umbrella Disasters Emergency Committee, which launches and coordinates responses to major disasters overseas, told the BBC that the "idea sounds fantastic", however she added that there were issues around getting the aid to all vulnerable people and said Mr Sprague should liaise with each aid agency.
