November 17, 2022
Environmental Health Risks in the Philippines
Médicos del Mundo, our Spanish team, has been working in the Ramechhap District, about 200 KM (125 miles) southeast of Kathmandu, where the municipal hospital collapsed after the first 7.8M earthquake on April 25.
As of yesterday’s 7.3M earthquake, the team is safe and accounted for, and is working to provide both emergency and primary medical care to Ramechhap residents. Those most seriously injured in the quakes have been evacuated by helicopter to Bir Hospital in Kathmandu, where two of our emergency team surgeons have been working in collaboration with Nepali health workers since May 3.
Javier Arcos, Medical Coordinator for MdM Spain, was at the Ministry of Health in Kathmandu during yesterday’s quake and says, “(T)he floor started shaking violently. You could see furniture moving a lot and people started to run…I haven’t seen any newly collapsed buildings, but given the intensity of the earthquake there must be considerable damage in the mountains.”
According to our team on the ground, the frequency and intensity of the aftershocks since the April 25 earthquake is further traumatizing people in Nepal. They report that many Nepalis continue to sleep outside in tents or wherever they can find open spaces. And those who are sleeping indoors again fill bowls of water and keep them by their bedsides so that they can detect tremors earlier and get out of their houses as quickly as possible. Tent cities are popping up in city squares and parks throughout the country.
MdM is continuing to collaborate with Nepali government authorities and health agencies to provide emergency and ongoing medical care and support to those impacted by the earthquakes.