The Oct. 8 earthquake in South Asia destroyed 26 hospitals and 600 clinics, claiming the lives of 54 000 people, including health care workers.
Eight days later, aid organizations were still unearthing bodies and treating victims.
Médecins Sans Frontières had 7 mobile medical teams in the rural areas around Islamabad, Pakistan, treating about 250 people a day with open fractures, “terrible infections,” wounds and contusions.
“We haven't even started to look at the minor medical needs,” Stephan Grosse Rueschkamp, a MSF press officer in Islamabad said in a phone interview.
There are 100 MSF workers, including 3 Canadians (a mental health expert, logistician and financial coordinator) on site.
MSF is setting up psychosocial support for people who have lost family members, particularly children who have lost their parents. Grosse Rueschkamp said “no one has come to terms with what's happened in their families.”
Speed is essential now with winter on its way. “There is snow in the mountains,” Grosse Rueschkamp said. “Exposure will lead to major health problems. We're running against the clock now.”
MSF has delivered 1200 winterized tents, although an estimated 300 000 are needed to help accommodate the estimated 4 million homeless.
The Canadian International Development Agency has earmarked $20 million for disaster relief and the Canadian Red Cross has sent medical teams and 11 truck loads of tents and other supplies to Kashmir.
For the first time, 4 Canadian aid agencies have joined forces to raise money (CMAJ 2005;172:734). They include CARE Canada, Save the Children Canada, Oxfam Canada and Oxfam-Quebec.
WHO has sent emergency health kits to meet the basic needs of 270 000 people for one month and surgical kits for 1000 surgeries. Four emergency teams with 60 WHO staff are working in the area.
Given that water and sanitation systems were heavily damaged, WHO is worried about the risk of diarrhoeal diseases. Measles is also endemic in the area, and only 60% of children are protected.