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

 
On November 21st, an AMDA coordinator who arrived in quake-hit Mindanao from Japan procured necessary relief supplies such as medical items, food stuff and daily goods for her scheduled relief work in Makilala, Cotabato Province where more than 100,000 people have been affected. She also discussed further activities with medical staff from Tagum Doctors College that collaborated with AMDA at this time.

On the 22nd, the joint team moved to Makilala to provide medical assistance. Throughout the entire relief, more than 60 personnel from several organizations such as AMDA Headquarters, AMDA Philippines, the said college and Tagum Doctors Hospital took part in the aid work. The doctors, nurses, pharmacists and volunteers worked in four districts, seeing more than 600 patients as a whole. The doctors found upper respiratory tract infections to be the most common ailments among patients.

 

While every district had an ample food supply, most of the residents chose to stay in evacuation tents as their damaged houses could collapse at any time because of the frequent aftershocks. Likewise, a makeshift tent was allocated for children to carry on with their schooling since it was no longer possible to conduct classes in the crumbling school building. As a temporary solution, desks and chairs were brought out of the classrooms to be set within the tent built with plastic sheets and bamboo logs.

Given such circumstances, there seems to be a long way ahead until people's lives get normalized. The mission came to a completion that day, however, AMDA will continue to monitor the local situation with AMDA Philippines.

 

As of November 24th, National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said 23 people died, 563 people were injured and 11 people have been missing in the October quakes. It is also reported that around 320,000 people have been affected and more than 180,000 people have been displaced.