(Adnkronos) – In Myanmar, in the Mandalay area, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) teams are carrying out psychological first aid activities and providing medical assistance through mobile clinics to support people affected by the earthquake. This was reported in a statement from the organization. MSF’s mobile clinics in Mandalay, staffed by a team of two doctors, a nurse and a gynecologist, are providing medical assistance in various locations where people have taken refuge, including the Ashoka Monastery. On the first day of activity alone, 24 visits were made for primary care, non-communicable diseases and some cases of trauma.
MSF mental health teams, in collaboration with some local volunteers, are carrying out psychological first aid activities at the Teaching Hospital and the Ashoka Mobile Clinic in Mandalay, meeting patients admitted to the surgery, orthopedic and trauma departments, as well as people living in temporary shelters. Mental health support is essential in a context where survivors live with severe psychological stress following the earthquake. Furthermore, with the arrival of the rainy season, the risk of the spread of water-borne diseases such as cholera, or diseases such as malaria and dengue, increases.
MSF teams are working to improve water, hygiene and sanitation conditions and mitigate further risks. MSF has installed 14 sinks, six taps, four pressure pumps and five 3000-litre water tanks at Mandalay General Hospital, installed 30 liquid soap dispensers, delivered 23 bins to improve waste management, donated ten fans to ventilate temporary shelters against extreme heat, as temperatures sometimes reach 40 degrees.
In southern Shan State, MSF teams are distributing essential non-food items, restoring clean water sources and continuing to assess the situation and needs in affected and displaced communities. MSF, which has been working in Myanmar since 1992, is working to strengthen activities in different areas of Myanmar and provide medical humanitarian assistance to the population. To meet the immense needs of the population, the organization concludes, a significant increase in humanitarian aid is essential and that this reaches all affected areas without obstacles, including those most difficult to reach.
