The World Health Organization (WHO) has rapidly responded to the devastating earthquakes that struck central Myanmar on Friday, providing nearly three tons of essential medical supplies to hospitals in the worst-hit regions of Nay Pyi Taw and Mandalay. The supplies, including trauma kits and multipurpose tents, were dispatched to aid the overwhelmed healthcare facilities treating thousands of injured people.
Within 24 hours of the powerful earthquakes—measuring magnitudes of 7.7 and 6.4—the WHO rushed critical medical supplies from its emergency stockpile in Yangon to the affected areas. The supplies have already arrived at the 1,000-bed hospital in Nay Pyi Taw and are en route to Mandalay General Hospital, two key hospitals managing the influx of casualties.
As rescue operations continue, several regions, including Bago, Magway, Mandalay, Nay Pyi Taw, Shan South and East, and Sagaing, are facing severe devastation. Hospitals in these areas are struggling to cope with the large number of injured individuals, with urgent needs for trauma and surgical care, blood transfusion supplies, anesthetics, essential medicines, and psychosocial support, among others.
The WHO’s immediate shipment also included multipurpose tents to accommodate the growing number of casualties and trauma kits designed to treat severe injuries and fractures. The organization is preparing a second shipment of Inter-Agency Emergency Health Kits, which will provide supplies to treat 10,000 people for up to three months. These supplies are set to depart tomorrow morning.
To support ongoing operations, the WHO has deployed rapid response teams to hospitals in the affected regions and is planning a rapid needs assessment to better understand the gaps and requirements for an effective response.
The full scale of casualties and damage to health facilities remains unclear. Early reports indicate that urban areas, including Mandalay, Sagaing, and Nay Pyi Taw, have experienced significant destruction. In Nay Pyi Taw, several public and private health facilities, including a major polyclinic, have sustained damage. Communication and electricity in Sagaing are largely disrupted, complicating the flow of information.
WHO has reached out to the global Emergency Medical Teams (EMTs) Network to identify teams willing to deploy field hospitals to Myanmar. So far, 26 EMTs have expressed interest in providing support.
This disaster adds further strain to Myanmar’s already fragile healthcare system, which was already under pressure due to ongoing conflict. Prior to the earthquakes, an estimated 12.9 million people in Myanmar were projected to require humanitarian health assistance in 2025.
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