WHO sends three tons of medical supplies to hospitals in quake-hit Myanmar

New Delhi: Responding to the immediate health needs of the thousands of people injured in the earthquakes that rocked Myanmar, WHO has provided nearly three tons of medical supplies to hospitals in Nay Pyi Taw and Mandalay -- the two cities hit the worst by the tremors.

In a statement, the World Health Organization (WHO) said the supplies, including trauma kits and multipurpose tents, had already reached a 1,000-bed hospital in Nay Pyi Taw and would soon reach the Mandalay General Hospital -- the two main facilities treating the injured in these areas.

These supplies were rushed from the emergency WHO stockpile in Yangon within 24 hours of two strong earthquakes of magnitudes 7.7 and 6.4 hitting central Myanmar on Friday, it added.

Rescue operations are underway. Bago, Magway, Mandalay, Nay Pyi Taw, Shan South and East and Sagaing were among the towns and cities to bear the maximum brunt of the quakes.

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

The multipurpose tents reaching the hospitals create additional space for the increasing number of injured while the trauma kits treat severe wounds and fractures, it added.

WHO is preparing a second despatch of Inter-Agency Emergency Health Kits early on Monday, with each having supplies to treat 10,000 people for three months.

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

Preparations are underway for WHO and partners to roll out a rapid needs assessment to better understand the gaps 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 the highest in urban areas of Mandalay, Sagaing and Nay Pyi Taw where the quakes caused largescale destruction of structures and building, the agency said.

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