Geneva/Port-au-Prince/Kabul: The death toll of the earthquake rose to more than 1,900 people in Haiti. While more than two million people have been impacted more than two million people, thousands have been left injured and homeless. To compound the situation, tropical storm Grace caused heavy rain and flooding to the country.
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has helped send emergency medical teams and supplies, and it is also on the ground supporting the authorities with an assessment of the damage to health facilities.
While four have been destroyed, a further twenty have been damaged.
“Urgent needs include medical personnel, health tools and logistical support for the delivery of supplies, deployment of people and transfer of patients. We are continuing to support the government and people of Haiti by all means possible during this difficult moment,” World Health Organisation Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in Geneva today.
WHO tragically lost one of its epidemiologist from Guinea, Dr. Ousmane Touré, who on deployment to Haiti tragically died in the earthquake that hit the country on Saturday August 14, 2021 morning.
“Dr. Touré was a hard working, dedicated and much loved team member that worked around the clock to help communities beat Ebola in both West Africa and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. At just 39, with a wife and two beautiful daughters, aged just four and one, his death is a heartbreaking reminder of the danger many WHO staff put themselves in working on the frontlines of health and humanitarian responses,” Dr. Ghebreyesus said.
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Meanwhile the people of Afghanistan are also facing an enormous challenge, where in the midst of a pandemic, there has been large displacement of people and increasing cases of diarrhoea, malnutrition, high blood pressure, probable cases of COVID-19 and reproductive health complications.
“There is an immediate need to ensure sustained humanitarian access, and continuity of health services across the country, with a focus on ensuring women and girls have access to female health workers. We are particularly concerned about the health and wellbeing of women and girls. I call on the international community and all actors to prioritise their access to all health services and to safeguard their futures,” Dr. Ghebreyesus said.
The WHO staff remain in the country and committed to delivering health services to the most vulnerable. Yesterday, WHO dispatched trauma kits and other medical supplies to help health workers responding to the increases in injuries they’re seeing.
“I also spoke to the acting Health Minister, Dr. Wahid Majrooh. He is in Kabul working to avoid disruptions and keep essential health services moving,” Dr. Ghebreyesus said.
– global bihari bureau
