|
|
|||
|
Country Profiles |
||
Indonesia AIDS Program Addresses Immediate Health Concerns Post-tsunami |
|||
|
FEBRUARY 2005 — When the powerful tsunami hit the shores of Aceh Province in Indonesia on Dec. 26, international medical and disaster teams formed immediately to respond to the disaster's devastating effects on the population. The U.S. Agency for International Development was among the first to mobilize its resources for disaster relief and asked its cooperating agencies in the region to help. Before USAID's Disaster Assessment and Response Team could be fully deployed, USAID's Jakarta Mission sent three bilingual medical and disaster relief specialists from Family Health International to provide emergency medical assistance and assess the risk of infectious disease outbreaks. The Mission allowed the team the freedom to respond to evolving needs and emergencies. Before leaving Jakarta on Jan. 7, FHI/Indonesia Country Director Dr. Steve Wignall, medical epidemiologist Dr. Pandu Riono and disaster relief specialist Fachrurazi Nazir, a native Achenese, met with the Indonesian Medical Association (IDI) and the Disaster Coordination Office of the World Health Organization (WHO) to get the latest information on the situation in Aceh and ask how best to assist. IDI asked the team to help Indonesian medical teams respond to immediate areas of need in conjunction with the Ministry of Health. WHO asked for help procuring badly needed anti-tetanus immune globulin, which the FHI team was able to obtain that day through an Indonesian supplier. On arrival in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh, the FHI team was met by Dr. Ron Waldman, professor of public health at Columbia University serving as a consultant to WHO, who immediately arranged to have the antisera delivered to a medical facility caring for tetanus patients. Dr. Waldman explained that while there were enough medical teams in place to deal with medical emergencies and trauma, coordination between the U.S. Navy medical teams joining the helicopter food drop missions and the USAID staff at the airport needed improvement. There was also an immediate need for a public health laboratory to support a nascent infectious disease surveillance system to monitor possible outbreaks of diarrheal disease (cholera and shigella), malaria and dengue fever. The FHI team divided its efforts between helping coordinate the Navy's food logistics and medical relief efforts and facilitating rapid deployment of a Naval Medical Research Unit mobile infectious disease lab, which was supported by USAID. Dr. Riono worked with IDI, WHO and the Indonesian Disaster Coordination Center to establish an infectious disease surveillance system that would ultimately be supported by the lab. During its eight-day deployment, the team also:
The Mission has encouraged FHI to continue supporting relief efforts in any way it can. Doreen Biehle of FHI's Medan office and Fachrurazi Nazir recently completed the proposal for PTS counseling support and NGO capacity building in conjunction with the Humanitarian Assistance Project. Fachrurazi Nazir and Dr. Wignall continue to provide assistance and advice to other relief organizations working in the area. As relief efforts move from emergency response to reconstruction and rehabilitation, FHI will work with deployed local military forces on HIV awareness and personal protection and will help local NGOs reduce the vulnerability of women who have lost spouses and financial support. Photo: A relief worker walks through the aftermath of the deadly tsunami that devastated much of the Aceh Province of Indonesia. (FHI) |
|||
|
|||
