WHO medical supplies reach hospitals in earthquake hit areas

By
Special Correspondent
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38
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Responding to the immediate health needs of the thousands of people injured in the strong earthquakes that rocked Myanmar, the World Health Organization has provided nearly 3 tons of medical supplies to hospitals in the worst hit Nay Pyi Taw and Mandalay.

The supplies comprising of trauma kits and multipurpose tents have reached a 1000 bedded hospital in Nay Pyi Taw and is soon reaching the Mandalay General Hospital, the two main hospitals treating the injured in these areas.

These supplies were rushed from the emergency stockpile in Yangon to the earthquake affected areas within 24 hours of two strong earthquakes of 7.7 magnitude and 6.4 magnitude hitting central Myanmar on Friday.

Rescue operations are ongoing. Bago, Magway, Mandalay, Nay Pyi Taw, Shan South and East and Sagaing are among the worst hit.

Hospitals are overwhelmed with thousands of injured in need of medical care. There is huge need for trauma and surgical care, blood transfusion supplies, anesthetics, essential medicines, management of mass causality, safe water and sanitation, mental health and psychosocial support among others.

The supplies that reached the hospitals today comprised of multipurpose tents to also create space for the increasing number of injured; and trauma kits to treat severe wounds and fractures.

WHO is preparing the second dispatch comprising of Inter-Agency Emergency Health Kits tomorrow morning, with each kit having supplies to treat 10 000 people for three months.

WHO is providing operational support to the rapid response teams deployed in the hospitals of the affected areas.

Preparations are on for WHO and partners to roll out a rapid needs assessment to better understand needs and gaps in the affected areas for a tailored response.

The scale of deaths, injuries and damage to health facilities are not yet fully understood The casualties are likely to be highest in urban areas of Mandalay, Sagaing and Nay Pyi Taw where the earthquakes caused largescale destruction of structures and building.

As per initial reports, in Nay Pyi Taw some public and private health facilities including a large polyclinic have been damaged. Information from Sagaing is limited as electricity and communication is largely disrupted.

WHO has reached out to the global Emergency Medical Teams Network to identify teams willing to be deployed with field hospitals in Myanmar. So far 26 EMTs have expressed interest.

The situation in Myanmar is concerning in view of the huge demand on the already fragile healthcare in conflict-hit areas. Prior to these earthquake, 12.9 million people were estimated to be in need of humanitarian health interventions in Myanmar in 2025.

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