The
World Health Organization (WHO) on Sunday handed over four emergency health
kits comprising medicines and medical supplies and US$175,000 as the first
tranche of emergency health funds to meet the immediate health needs of the
earthquake-affected people in Nepal.
"Within
hours of the tragedy, WHO disbursed medical supplies to cover the health needs
of 40, 000 people for three months. These supplies are in the form of
inter-agency emergency health kits and were given to hospitals in Nepal
treating the injured," WHO South-East Asia Regional director Poonam
Khetrapal Singh said in a release made available to The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
WHO
also immediately made available $175,000 to the Ministry of Health and
Population in Nepal, as the first tranche of South-East Asia Regional Health
Emergency Funding (SEARHEF).
The
SEARHEF funds are aimed at meeting immediate financial needs and to fill
critical gaps in the aftermath of a disaster.
Simultaneously,
WHO is supporting the Ministry of Health and Population to continue to assess
the health needs of the affected people and the damage to health facilities.
Senior officials from the WHO Regional office are in Kathmandu, to reinforce
WHO Nepal Office’s support for the Nepalese government.
Other
than the injured, those rendered homeless by the earthquake are in need of
immediate support for regular public health services, water and sanitation and
psycho-social support to deal with the trauma caused by the tragedy, said the
WHO. (ebf)(++++)
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