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WHO dispatch needs-assessment teams to quake-hit areas
The World Health Organization (WHO) says it has sent needs-assessment teams to quake-hit areas in Nepal to consolidate what is currently known about the earthquakeâs impact there, allowing the deployment of resources to be calibrated according to needs
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T
he World Health Organization (WHO) says it has sent needs-assessment teams to quake-hit areas in Nepal to consolidate what is currently known about the earthquake's impact there, allowing the deployment of resources to be calibrated according to needs.
'We have received conflicting information regarding damages there,' WHO's Nepal earthquake response team project manager Damodar Adhikari said in a release made available to The Jakarta Post.
'We are verifying the information with the Gorkha authorities,' he went on.
Sindhupalchowk has so far reported the highest fatalities of any region in Nepal. Authorities say that at least 1400 people had died there, and warning that the number could rise to 3000.
Many people in the district have been displaced, while others require immediate medical attention, which so far has been difficult to provide. Landslides block the district's transport arteries and the terrain is often inaccessible.
Other districts severely impacted by the earthquake include Gorkha, where the quake's epicenter occurred.
Gorkha's most affected areas are extremely remote, taking 10-12 days to reach by foot. Nepalese and Indian military helicopters have been flying to these affected regions, bringing local and foreign medical staff to hard-to-reach areas to deliver medical supplies and airlift badly injured people to Kathmandu for treatment.
'But the needs remain great, with helicopters unable to reach some communities due to poor weather and steep hillsides. Reaching these communities and providing health support, is essential,' WHO says.
WHO says it is working with health authorities to get health workers in place to care for the injured, and prevent and control the spread of infectious diseases, including diarrhoea.(ebf)
