The number of people affected by the earthquakes that hit southeastern Turkey and northern Syria could reach 23 million, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday, pledging long-term aid.
The studies “show that 23 million people are at risk, including some five million vulnerable people,” WHO official Adelheid Marschang told the organization’s executive board.
“WHO is aware of Turkey’s great response capacity and considers that the main needs may be those of Syria in the short and medium term,” he added.
The earthquake, registered this Monday and followed by strong aftershocks, has already caused the death of more than 5,000 people in Turkey and Syria, also leaving thousands injured and homeless due to the icy cold felt in the region, but the number remains provisional.
The delivery of aid to Syria “will likely be, or is already being prevented by the damage caused by the earthquake. This in itself already constitutes a major crisis,” the same official said.
For his part, the director general of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus -who called for a minute of silence for the victims- assured that the organization is working “in close collaboration with all partners to support the authorities of Turkey and Syria in the next few hours and days, which will be critical, and in the months and years ahead, as both countries recover and recover.”
The director general also announced the sending of “three charter flights to the two countries” with medical supplies, including surgical “kits”, from the humanitarian aid logistics platform located in Dubai.
“We are assembling emergency supplies and activating the WHO network of emergency medical teams to provide essential medical care to the injured and the most vulnerable,” he added.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also explained that damage mapping is being done to understand where the WHO should focus its attention.
“Now it’s a race against time. With each passing minute, each hour, the chances of finding survivors alive decrease,” he admitted, referring to being “particularly concerned about areas where there is less information.”
“Earthquake aftershocks, severe winter conditions, damage to roads, power supplies, communications and other infrastructure continue to hamper access and search and rescue operations,” the WHO director-general stressed.
The quakes, the largest measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale, toppled thousands of buildings in southern Turkey and northern Syria.
The rescue teams remain in the affected places, whose work is hampered by the low temperatures recorded in the region.
Source: TSF
