At a time when the death toll, still provisional a week after the series of earthquakes, stands at over 35,000 in Turkey and Syria, the mobilisation to help the victims continues. Today, 7 extra kits of health products are leaving for Turkey for Aides Actions Internationales Pompiers, which is working on the ground. 50,000 anti-diphtheria and tetanus vaccines donated by the Foundation S- Sanofi collective and the Tulipe association were sent last Sunday via the Crisis and Support Centre of the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs.
Seven kits of medical products will leave Paris tomorrow for the NGO Aide Actions Internationales Pompiers. These essential products will bring to 37 the number of trunks sent by the Tulipe association on site, representing a total of 2 tonnes of donated medicines and health equipment. The NGO Corps Mondial de Secours, which shipped several kits of health products to Turkey, has been fully staffed since last Thursday and is continuing its search and rescue mission, as Éric Zipper, its head of mission, explains: “We are currently working in Kahramanmaraş, a town in the centre of the country that has been completely destroyed. The landscape is apocalyptic, with buildings over 10 storeys high reduced to dust. There are many survivors, but unfortunately more and more dead people are emerging from the rubble”. The conditions on the ground are extremely difficult and are not making the rescuers’ task any easier. “Safety conditions are complicated by the instability of the rubble. We are continuing to search relentlessly.
Rescue workers from the NGO Aides Actions Internationales Pompiers will receive 7 kits of Tulipe health products (DR-AAIP)
Helping survivors with advanced aid posts
At a time when the last hopes of finding new survivors in the rubble are dwindling by the hour, the mission of Éric Zipper’s NGO is shifting towards providing assistance to the population, in particular to survivors who are suffering from the difficult conditions on site in the extreme cold: “We set up an advanced medical post yesterday morning. It will be operating at full capacity until the end of our mission. It has already received 55 patients, mainly to treat illnesses caused by the conditions, trauma or problems following the cessation of treatment”. The emergency and paediatric health kits donated by Tulipe were used in this temporary structure.
On 12 February, relief workers from the World Relief Corps opened an advanced first-aid post supplied with health products donated by Tulipe (DR-World Relief Corps).
50,000 vaccines to help earthquake victims
Another aspect of the earthquake response was the dispatch on Sunday 12 February of 50,000 anti-diphtheria and tetanus vaccines donated by the Foundation S – Sanofi collective and the Tulipe association. These vaccines are intended for the disaster-stricken population in Turkey and have also been sent via the Crisis and Support Centre. This mobilisation of the philanthropic structure also includes “essential medicines, and two million euros in emergency funding for local and global humanitarian organisations supporting immediate relief and future reconstruction efforts”. By 13 February, some 32,000 people had been mobilised for search and rescue operations in Turkey, including more than 8,000 foreign rescue workers, according to data provided by the Turkish agency responsible for natural disasters.
