Japan operating its biggest overseas medical mission in quake-hit Turkiye, says official

Japan is operating its biggest overseas medical mission in Turkish regions which have been hit hard by two massive earthquakes, a senior official from the country said.

“It is the first time for the Japanese government to set up Type-II hospital which among other capacities can conduct surgical operation and can accept patients for night stay,” Takeshi Ishihara, the leader of around 70 medical and paramedical Japanese staff, told Anadolu.

Japan’s medical field camp began its operations last week in the Oguzeli district of Turkiye’s Gaziantep province – one of 11 southern and southeastern provinces hit by the 6 February twin quakes which caused widespread devastation and resulted in the death of over 43,500 people, according to official figures.

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Ishihara, an official from Japan’s Foreign Ministry, said the Japanese medical team arrived in two groups on 13 and 15 February when it started its operations.

The team, almost half of which are females, includes doctors, nurses, paramedics and logistics staff.

“Our team carries medical supplies, drugs and can conduct X-ray scanning,” said Ishihara, adding it is self-sufficient and the field hospital is set up inside a tent.

Soon after the strong tremors shook Turkiye, Japan immediately sent search and rescue teams besides emergency aid to help in post-quake operations.

“Japan is going to provide emergency assistance on a scale of $8.5 million and additional provision of emergency relief goods for Türkiye,” Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last week.

A total of 28 countries set up 31 field hospitals in southern Turkiye after powerful earthquakes shook the region earlier this month, according to the Turkish Foreign Ministry.

The magnitude 7.8 and 7.6 quakes, which were centered in Kahramanmaras, struck ten other provinces — Hatay, Gaziantep, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Adana, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, Sanliurfa, and Elazig. Some 13.5 million people have been affected by the devastating tremors.

Several countries in the region, including Syria and Lebanon, also felt the earthquakes that struck in the space of fewer than ten hours.

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