Philippines/ Typhoon Haiyan (12 Nov)

 

MSF is strengthening its team with an additional 50 people including medical personnel, logisticians and psychologists arriving in the next few days. Areas of intervention: currently based in Cebu, but teams going to Tacloban and to islands west of Cebu.

 

Types of injuries we expect to see are fractures and lacerations/ cuts. It is important that people receive treatment as soon as possible to avoid complications and infections. Medical structures have been damaged or destroyed, with medical material washed away.

 

There is massive lack of information on the situation in rural and remote areas.

 

We expect to have a medical team on the ground today in Tacloban, a town devastated when the typhoon first struck the coast. That team will include two doctors and an orthopedic specialist.  

 

Transport links to the area have been seriously disrupted, which has made access particularly difficult. Tacloban airport is badly damaged and roads are blocked. 

 

Limited information is currently available on the situation west of Cebu, but with the extent of the damage in this area it is estimated that the main needs will be shelter, water and food. Teams are currently organising supplies of drugs, medical equipment and material to purify water, as well as essential items for distribution such as plastic sheeting, cooking items and hygiene kits. Teams will also monitor possible outbreaks of infectious diseases.

 

MSF is sending 329 tonnes of medical and relief items which will arrive in Cebu within the next few days in four cargo planes, which are leaving on 11 and 12 Nov– 2 from Dubai and 2 from Ostende. The humanitarian cargo includes medical kits for treating wounded, material for medical consultations, tetanus vaccines, water and sanitation equipment, and relief items such as tents and hygiene kits. An additional cargo is being prepared due to leave later this week from Bordeaux with an inflatable hospital and medical material.