Association of Medical Doctors of ASIA, founded in 1984, Consultative Status with UN ECOSOC since 1995

AMDA’s relief work in Soja City and Mabicho has been continued with five of its emergency relief teams up and running in four locations (as of 16 July 2018). Thanks to AMDA’s partner medical institutions and organizations, the joint relief work has been going well.

Many of these partners belong to AMDA’s Platform for the Great Nankai Trough Disaster, a disaster response platform established for the purpose of collaboration between AMDA, local municipal governments, and private companies in western areas of Japan (Chugoku-Shukoku region) foreseeing the Nankai Trough Disaster which is said to strike Japan in the near future.

-Soja City: Sunwork Soja (Health-related assistance)

Continued from the previous day, on 16 July, AMDA nurses maintained sanitary conditions in the shelter and provided a health consultation service in Sunwork Soja. AMDA nurses have been going around the evacuees to check if they have been doing okay and advised each one of them to drink enough water to avoid heatstroke. In addition, the team has been holding several kinds of physical exercises for the evacuees not to get inactive. JRAT (Japan Disaster Rehabilitation Assistance Team) has been a great contributor to this effort. The same activity routine continued on the following day as well.

-Soja City: Shimobara Community House (Medical assistance)

AMDA extended its activities to provide medical assistance in Shimobara Community House in which one nurse and one medical coordinator have been allocated. The extreme heat forced the victims to work under harsh conditions where several people had been diagnosed with heatstroke. Two out of 15 patients were taken to the nearby hospital in an ambulance. AMDA’s medical post in Shimobara Community House was supposed to be open only until the 16th, but it was later extended to the 17th.

-Soja City: Showa Community House (Medical assistance)

One nurse and one medical coordinator from AMDA has been continuously providing medical assistance to the victims and the volunteers in Showa district, one of the severely affected areas in Soja City. On the 16th, five people came to see the nurse as they felt unwell. Meanwhile, as Soja City Government received a report suggesting a smell of gas was coming from a temporary garbage dumpsite, AMDA team went to see if no one was affected by it with the city staff. However, no harm was identified. This medical post, set in Showa Community Center, was supposed to end the service on the 16th. However, it was extended to the next day to serve the people in the area.

-Mabicho: Okada Elementary School (Acupuncture service)

The acupuncture service provided by AMDA’s acupuncturists and acupuncturists from Okayama Prefectural Acupuncturist Association has been well received. On the 16th, AMDA prepared a “devised air conditioner” made of two chunks of ice wrapped in a cheesecloth to be set in front of a fan to cool the treatment room. This has allowed both acupuncturists and patients to do the treatment in a comfortable atmosphere. On the 16th alone, four acupuncturists saw 38 patients. Those who received the service said, “It makes me feel relaxed whenever I visit this place,” (a woman in her 60s); “My neck feels much lighter now,” (a man in his 70s).


-Mabicho: Okada Elementary School (Free legal consultation service and support service for non-Japanese victims)

Most of the concerns heard at the free legal consultation service at Okada Elementary School were about the houses that were badly affected by the disaster. On the first day (15 July), three couples came to ask for advice, followed by five couples on the following day, consulting with a stationed lawyer about the damage compensation. While most of the consultors were pleased that their problems were heard, one man said he wished if the service would be continued a little longer as it came to close on the 16th.