International Medical Corps, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and MAP International are teaming up to help survivors in Myanmar following last month’s devastating cyclone. International Medical Corps has received essential medicines, medical equipment, and relief supplies worth more than $130,000 from MAP International for its emergency response. International Medical Corps’ team in Yangon, in partnership with local and international organizations will use this gift for humanitarian support through mobile clinics and mental health activities being implemented in the affected areas of the delta by IOM Yangon. The MAP International shipment will be handed over to IOM which has been working in the health sector in Myanmar for several years and was able to rapidly shift its ongoing operations to the hard-hit delta area.
The donation by MAP will help International Medical Corps and its partners to provide life-saving primary health services in remote areas of the delta. IOM is currently operating seven mobile clinics and distributing non-food items in Mawlamyinegyun and Bogale townships, among those hardest-hit in the delta region. Since the middle of May these teams have covered 50 villages and reached over 2,000 patients. International Medical Corps is supporting these activities by handing over the donation and is planning to make its primary and mental health expertise available to the IOM teams.
“The MAP International donation helps International Medical Corps and its partners to reach more people and provides us with necessary drugs for patients whose health has been affected by the disaster,” says Edi Cosic, International Medical Corps’ Director of Emergency Response. “This gift is freeing up resources for other activities like mental health and psycho-social programs.”
MAP International’s Relief Director Chris Palusky believes the partnership with International Medical Corps can help save thousands of lives at risk following the cyclone. “These relief supplies are critical for preventing a second wave of death. Millions of people are at risk for water-borne diseases which threaten their lives,” said Mr. Palusky.
The donation includes essential medication and supplies to treat the most common ailments currently seen by health professionals in the delta. Initially, many survivors needed to be treated for injuries. Now aid workers are concerned about an upward trend in acute respiratory tract infections and worry about exposure to malaria and Dengue fever. International Medical Corps and IOM are currently cooperating on programs in Mozambique and Iraq and have worked together in several other countries, including Indonesia following the 2004 tsunami.
MAP International and International Medical Corps have a long and successful history of collaboration during emergencies and relief operations around the world in difficult and challenging places including Pakistan after the 2005 earthquake and the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia. They are currently working together to provide aid for people affected by violence in Chad.
More than 130,000 people have died or went missing after cyclone Nargis flooded large parts of the fertile delta area in Myanmar over a month ago. The United Nations says that 2.5 million people have been affected and so far one million have not received basic assistance.
MAP International is a nonprofit relief and development organization that provides more than $300 million in medicines and medical supplies to more than 115 countries each year. MAP also operates healthcare clinics and programs in countries affected by war, poverty, disease and natural disaster. More information about MAP can be found at www.map.org.