UN And WHO Deploy Medical Teams To Turkey, Syria
The United Nations, UN and the World Health Organisation, WHO have launched emergency response operations by sending an emergency medical team to help thousands of victims, including those still believed to be buried under the rubble of a massive earthquake in southern Turkey and northern Syria.
The emergency medical team, WHO said, will among other interventions help provide healthcare services to the injured.
A 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Turkey and Syria on Monday, killing more than 2,300 people, leveling buildings while many were still asleep, and sending tremors that were felt as far away as the island of Cyprus and Egypt.
The Turkish Government had issued a Level 4 alarm, calling “for international assistance.”
The UN Secretary General, António Guterres, in a statement said “an emergency team was deployed to asses and provide assistance for the victims.”
He said; “My heart goes out to the people of Türkiye and Syria in this hour of tragedy. The United Nations is fully committed to supporting the response. Our teams are on the ground assessing the needs and providing assistance.”
The specialist UN surge teams from the Office of UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination also tweeted that they were “ready to deploy,” amid multiple horrifying social media posts showing huge buildings collapsing in heavily built-up areas.
Similarly, WHO said “the medical teams initiative has been activated to provide essential healthcare for the injured and most vulnerable affected by the disaster.”
The Senior Emergency Manager coordinating the Türkiye earthquake response at WHO/Europe, Dr. Catherine Smallwood, said “the agency is focusing on search and rescue in the immediate aftermath of the earthquakes while anticipating an increased need for trauma care to treat the injured.”
She added, “The immediate priority is to support the response locally. Türkiye has a very strong capacity to respond to earthquakes, but such is the level of the destruction, they have put out an alert for international medical assistance. And we are coordinating potential deployment with the Turkish authorities.”
AFP/ Mercy Chukwudiebere
