First of all, on behalf of all of us at the WHO Regional Office for Europe and our WHO country office in Türkiye, I would like to express our deepest condolences to the people of Türkiye and Syria.
Your suffering is immense. your sorrow deep. WHO is with you in your hour of need – and always.
So far, more than 31,000 people have died in the earthquakes in Türkiye. The number of injured – almost 100,000 people.
Across the border in northwestern Syria, the death toll is nearly 5,000. All of these numbers are likely to increase.
At the same time, we witnessed miraculous rescue efforts by teams of heroic Turkish responders working around the clock in a desperate race against time. We let ourselves be inspired by them and draw strength from their commitment. Yesterday they rescued Miray, a young girl from Adiyaman, from the rubble of a block of flats. She had been trapped for 178 hours.
We at WHO have called on all parties – government and civil society alike – to work together to ensure the cross-border delivery of humanitarian aid between Türkiye and Syria and within Syria itself.
The need is huge and growing by the hour. Around 26 million people in both countries need humanitarian aid.
We – in collaboration with many partners – are supporting the massive humanitarian response to save lives, treat the injured and most importantly help get the health system – especially primary health care – up and running again, as frightening as that may seem at the moment like.
In the past week we have:
- Handled three charter flights carrying emergency kits and medical supplies to Syria and Türkiye – enough to treat 400,000 people and conduct 120,000 urgent surgeries, with more supplies on the way.
- We have dispatched technical emergency teams to the disaster area to conduct urgent public health needs assessments and to support our existing field offices in the region.
- We have initiated the deployment of emergency medical teams;
- We have released $16 million from our emergency fund for emergencies to help people in need.
Just over a week after this terrible tragedy, there are also growing concerns about emerging health issues related to cold weather, hygiene and sanitation, and the spread of infectious diseases – with vulnerable people particularly at risk.
We stand by the Minister of Health, Dr. Fahrettin Koca and the Turkish Ministry of Health, who report that important shipments of vaccines – including against tetanus and rabies – have been sent to the earthquake zone and mobile pharmacies have started operations.
In Türkiye, an estimated one million people have lost their homes and are living in shelters. According to Turkish authorities, an estimated 80,000 people are hospitalized, putting a huge strain on the healthcare system, which itself was severely damaged by the disaster.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched an appeal for $43 million to support earthquake response in Syria and Türkiye, but I expect that amount will at least double in the coming days as we get better Get an assessment of the massive scale of this crisis and the needs.
This money will be used for:
- Ensure access to the most vulnerable and hard-to-reach populations
- Provide trauma care and post-traumatic rehabilitation,
- Provide essential medicines and emergency kits to fill urgent health care gaps,
- Providing vital mental and psychosocial support to affected populations and
- Ensuring the continuity of routine health services, especially for women, children, the elderly and those with non-communicable diseases.
We initiated the largest deployment of emergency medical teams in the WHO European Region in our 75-year history.
So far, 22 emergency medical teams have arrived in Türkiye. These specialized teams from 19 countries will integrate with Türkiye’s ongoing health operations and provide critical emergency care.
Your immediate priority will be to support the many damaged hospitals and medical facilities, particularly in dealing with the high number of trauma patients and catastrophic injuries.
Now is the time for the international community to show the same generosity that Türkiye has shown to other nations worldwide over the years. The country is home to the world’s largest refugee population, 4.2 million people from neighboring Syria, many of whom have lost everything again.
We are witnessing the worst natural disaster in the WHO European Region in a century. We’re still learning about its magnitude. Its true cost is not yet known. Recovery and healing will take time and phenomenal effort. But I can assure you that the WHO will stand firm alongside the people of Türkiye and Syria for as long as it takes.
Thank you very much.
END
Website: Earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria
https://www.who.int/europe/emergencies/situations/turkiye-and-syria-earthquakes
Image material for download:
https://photos.euro.who.int/galleries/380/media-trkiyesyria-earthquakes-2023
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