Jakarta, Indonesia Supplies are being loaded into a plane heading to Banda Aceh. © Erwin Vantland/MSF

Sunday, January 2, 2005 - In addition to its mobile medical teams in Banda Aceh, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) yesterday also brought a mobile clinic to the remote costal town of Lhok Timon. The team was dropped by helicopter, with materials for medical consultations as well as 120 kilos of rice for the 1,500 people in the town who have been living on coconuts and bananas for the past five days.

According to the MSF team, the population is living in appalling conditions, with around 20 families to a hut and people being forced to use plastic bags for additional shelter.

MSF will drop a water and sanitation team plus a medical team in Lhok Timon in the coming days, as well as further medical teams in other locations along the western coast.

Meanwhile, the mobile clinics in Banda Aceh continue. On Saturday, two teams provided 293 consultations for people left homeless by the tsunami in three different sites. The main three pathologies were wounds (bruises, burns, and cuts -- often infected after the delay in treatment), respiratory tract infections, and skin diseases (a common phenomenon where people huddle together under poor conditions).

Takuapa: fishermen's village that was almost entirely destroyed, no inhabitants left.  © MSF

One 15-year old boy’s leg was so infected after injury that MSF immediately transported him to a hospital in Banda Aceh for further treatment. An MSF psychologist also organized a session in which 15 people received support in dealing with their traumatic experiences.