Santa Monica, Calif., February 5, 2007 - International Medical Corps is responding to the devastating floods in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta. Working with long-time partner, Ambulan 118 - a local non-governmental organization that provides emergency medical personnel, supplies and drugs - IMC teams are currently assessing the status of local clinics in the flooded areas. IMC is also coordinating a comprehensive response, including the use of three mobile medical units and one ambulance, with local and international partners.
Survivors are currently in urgent need of food, clean water and medical assistance.
"Coordination with the government in Jakarta has worked well so far," said Wawan Ulianto, IMC's Team Leader there. "But the people outside of Jakarta are suffering the most." Many outlying communities have suffered damage where it is difficult to deliver humanitarian assistance.
After days of torrential rains, large parts of Jakarta and nearby areas are facing the worst floods in five years. About 340,000 people have been displaced in Jakarta alone and tens of thousands have been treated for drought-related diseases ranging from coughs to diarrhea. So far, 30 people have died, and in some areas water levels have reached up to 10 feet.
The number of displaced people has increased dramatically in recent days, according to news reports and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The physical destruction will take months to repair, with homes, schools, and roads completely destroyed.
International Medical Corps has been operating in the area since 1999. As a first-responder after the 2004 tsunami that killed 250,000 people across Southeast Asia, IMC was able to deliver medical services and supplies to the people of Indonesia within hours of the disaster. Indonesia also has been hard-hit by a succession of large earthquakes in the past two years.
International Medical Corps is a global, humanitarian, nonprofit organization dedicated to saving lives and relieving suffering through health care training and relief and development programs. Established in 1984 by volunteer doctors and nurses, IMC is a private, voluntary, nonpolitical, nonsectarian organization. Its mission is to improve the quality of life through health interventions and related activities that build local capacity in underserved communities worldwide. By offering training and health care to local populations and medical assistance to people at highest risk, and with the flexibility to respond rapidly to emergency situations, IMC rehabilitates devastated health care systems and helps bring them back to self-reliance.
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
