Indian Doctors, Public Health Experts Head to the Quake-Hit Nepal

The Health Ministry of India has set up a public health team comprising experts from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Safdarjung Hospital and the Ministry, which will leave for Nepal to assess the health needs after the country suffered a devastating earthquake on April 25.

The team will interact with health authorities in Nepal and conduct a rapid health and need-based assessment to ascertain requirements in terms of human resource and logistic deployment.

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“On the directives of Health Minister JP Nadda, a team comprising experts from AIIMS, Safdarjung Hospital and public health specialists in the ministry is being sent to Nepal to assess the health aspects arising out of large-scale morbidity and mortality,” said a health ministry statement.

A 34-member medical team consisting of 10 orthopedic surgeons, 4 anesthetists, 12 male nurses and 8 operation theatre technicians along with 15 tons of medical supplies left for Nepal on April 26.

The Indian Medical Association (IMA), a grouping of over 2 lakh doctors spread across the country, said that they would be sending a team of specialist surgeons for a week to Kathmandu, Nepal.

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Marthanda Pillai, National President and K K Aggarwal, Secretary General of IMA, said, “The team will consist of orthopedic surgeons, plastic surgeons and surgeons who will be conducting free OPD and select cases for surgeries. Surgeries which can be undertaken at Kathmandu will be done there and those which require to be done in India, patients will be brought to India for surgeries in various hospitals.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) handed over four emergency health kits comprising medicines (each catering to 10,000 people), medical supplies and $175 000 from the South-East Asia Regional Health Emergency Fund (SEARHEF) as the first tranche of emergency health funds to meet the health needs of the affected people in Nepal.

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Dr. Poonam Khetrapal Singh, WHO South-East Asia Regional Director, said, “Within hours of the tragedy, WHO disbursed medical supplies to cover the health needs of 40,000 people for three months. These supplies are in the form of inter-agency emergency health kits and were given to hospitals in Nepal treating the injured.”

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Source-Medindia