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

On 2 September 2019, AMDA’s relief team (three nurses and one coordinator) worked at evacuation shelters in flood-hit Ohmachicho, Saga Prefecture located in the Kyushu region of southwest Japan. The relief work was conducted in collaboration with local health-and-welfare department and municipal authorities.

While some of AMDA nurses did their rounds in Ohmachicho General Welfare Health Center Misato (one of the two local evacuation in town), the rest of AMDA personnel worked with local health workers to digitize the personal data of evacuees to optimize the total shelter management.

During the rounds, a woman in her 60s said she was worried that a hospital she used to visit regularly was also affected by the disaster. In total, about 40 evacuees consulted their health concerns in person with the nurses.


At the shelter, AMDA nurses also warned volunteer aid workers not to underestimate their own health conditions in the midst of this unusual circumstance. In fact, a lot of volunteers were surprised to learn that their blood pressure levels had risen compared with their daily readings.

At a general meeting held in the afternoon, it was confirmed that the lack of manpower was the biggest issue with which the shelter had been faced. Since there wasn’t enough staff to accompany elderly evacuees to toilet at night or do daily rounds, the town government of Ohmachicho decided to ask for assistance to other municipalities.


As everything started to be on track (coupled with an announcement from the town government that they can rely on themselves in running the shelters), AMDA decided to hand over its work to local health workers and completed its mission by noon on the following day (Tuesday, 3 September).