Indonesia

Daisy Plana, a Philippine psychologist working for Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), has been providing mental health support to victims of the violent earthquake that hit Sumatra, Indonesia, on September 30, 2009, in the rural areas around the coastal city of Pariaman.

On September 30, a massive earthquake hit the Indonesian island of Sumatra, causing widespread destruction and triggering landslides that wiped out entire villages. According to the United Nations, an estimated 2.5 million people have been affected by the 7.6 magnitude quake, which killed 1,117 people in addition to injuring 1,214. One month later, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is still operating mobile clinics, giving mental health support to the survivors, monitoring epidemics, distributing relief items, as well as providing water and sanitation support.

However, MSF teams are still finding remote areas where aid has yet to arrive. Inhabitants have lost their houses and belongings, and are clearly are in need of essential relief items.

Just 10 days after an earthquake struck Sumatra Island, massive aid is already coming in. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is therefore focusing its efforts on the most neglected areas. Some heavily affected villages are still very difficult to access and others that are farther away from the epicenter have received little assistance.

Three days after a magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck off the western coast of Sumatra Island, Indonesia, last week, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) emergency teams arrived in the area and began to assess the medical and non-medical needs of the population.

More than a week after several natural disasters in the East Asia and South Pacific regions, MSF mental health staff are beginning to train local counselors, as well as give direct psychological support.

A week after a severe earthquake hit the Indonesian island of Sumatra, rescue operations are coming to an end and the search for survivors has been stepped down. However, relief operations will continue with a focus on assisting the thousands of people that have lost their homes and relatives and are now living in very harsh conditions.

MSF teams reach isolated areas after an impressive initial response from local and international agencies.

Three days after a powerful earthquake hit the Indonesian island of Sumatra—leaving close to 1,000 dead, approximately 3,000 missing, and more than 3,000 wounded—the first MSF teams arrived in the area.

MSF has sent emergency teams to Indonesia following yesterday’s powerful earthquake that authorities say has killed more than 750 people and left thousands trapped under rubble. The magnitude 7.6 quake struck off the western coast of Sumatra Island. The worst affected areas are said to be the cities of Padang and Pariaman.

Several MSF emergency teams have already arrived or are en route to countries in East Asia after a succession of natural disasters in the region. In Indonesia, the Philippines, and Samoa islands, MSF will focus its activities on meeting unmet needs, from surgical care to distribution of relief items.

When Sumatra, Indonesia, was hit by successive earthquakes on September 12 and 13, populations on the remote Mentawai islands, some 90 miles off Sumatra's west coast, were also devastated, but reaching them was extremely challenging. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has now delivered 20 tons of relief materials, including plastic sheeting, hygiene kits, and blankets, for 2,000 to 3,000 families in Pagai Utara and Pagai Selatan, on the west side of the islands.

MSF intervention following the May 2 earthquake has focused on complementing the rapidly deployed local emergency response by providing surgery, post-operative care, and physiotherapy in order to help people recover from their wounds and regain their autonomy as quickly as possible.

Six days after a 6.3-magnitude earthquake hit the island of Java in Indonesia, the latest official figures for the number of wounded has doubled to just over 46,000, with more than 30,000 people suffering from serious trauma.

On Saturday, May 27, a 6.3-magnitude earthquake shook Java island in Indonesia. According to UN agencies, the earthquake left more than 5,000 people dead, an estimated 20,000 injured, and some 200,000 homeless. The epicenter has been reported close to the town of Bantul (two hours by car from Yogyakarta). The most affected areas are Bantul, Yogyakarta, and Klaten. Since Saturday, there have been more than 450 aftershocks and about 35,000 buildings in and around Yogyakarta have been reduced to rubble.

On August 24, MSF sent its first team consisting of one medical doctor, one nurse, and two logisticians, to West Sumba in order to investigate reports of a measles outbreak that had killed five people in the sub-district of Kodi. They soon found that the outbreak had already spread into 6 of West Sumba's 15 sub-districts.

Dr. Giovanni Brescia, an anaesthesiologist, is part of a Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) surgical team working in Lamno town, in Aceh province on the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

Six months have passed since an enormous tsunami hit parts of South Asia, leaving behind a horrifying trail of destruction and suffering. Within days of the December 26, 2004 disaster, MSF teams began working alongside national efforts to provide assistance to individuals in need of medical care, food, clean water, shelter, and other basic necessities.

Morten Rostrup, MD, worked in Indonesia’s devastated Aceh province providing medical consultations to thousands of people who survived the earthquake-triggered tsunamis.

31 January 2005 - A little over one month after the tsunami hit Southeast Asia, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is publishing a detailed report of its emergency relief activities to assist the victims of the disaster. Since the beginning of the crisis, over 200 international MSF volunteers and 2,000 metric tons of supplies have been sent to the region. Today, 127 international volunteers are helping in Aceh, Indonesia, 36 in Sri Lanka, and 6 in India, working side by side with national staff.

Claire Rieux, MD, is an MSF volunteer working in Sigli Hospital in Indonesia's Aceh province. Most of the Indonesian medical staff members in Sigli Hospital were killed by the tsunami.

One of the most dangerous diseases to be found in Aceh province, Indonesia, in the wake of the tsunami disaster is tetanus. Potentially life-threatening, tetanus transmission is facilitated by infected wounds.

MSF is now supporting the newly functioning pediatric, surgical, and medical wards in Meulaboh hospital. On January 9, 40 patients were in the surgical ward, many of whom were suffering from infected wounds caused by the tsunami two weeks ago. MSF has also been taking care of two premature babies that weigh only five pounds.

A Doctors without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) surgical team has started working in Sigli General District Hospital. Sigli, the capital of Pidie district on the eastern coast of Aceh, is an area that has been severely damaged by the tsunami. The 35-bed hospital has remained open with the help of Indonesian staff (many of the employees of the hospital were killed).

Brussels/Jakarta, January 3, 2005 — Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and Greenpeace are working together to bring desperately needed medical aid to survivors of last week’s earthquake. The Greenpeace ship ‘Rainbow Warrior’ and its crew of 19 will transport equipment, food, fuel, medical supplies, and MSF medical staff to Aceh, northern Sumatra; an area which has proven difficult to access for aid organizations. The ship departed from Singapore yesterday and is scheduled to arrive in the port of Medan tomorrow morning, where it will load supplies before heading to Banda Aceh, at the northern tip of Sumatra.

MSF medical teams are working in Indonesia's Aceh province to assist people left homeless by the earthquake and tsunami disaster in South Asia. MSF volunteer nurse Elaine Lau describes her first days in Aceh with fellow MSF volunteer Albert Ko, an engineer.

MSF medical teams returned yesterday by helicopter to Lhok Timon along the west coast of Banda Aceh to provide medical consultations. Following the tsunami, only 1,270 people of the original population of 3,200 are still in the village.

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.

New York/Brussels, December 29, 2004 – Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) today began providing medical aid to people in Aceh, Indonesia, a region devastated by Sunday’s earthquake. MSF is the first international organization to begin working in the area. A team of eight people, including three nurses and two doctors, arrived in Banda Aceh yesterday and set up a clinic in a camp for displaced people.

December 28, 2004 - Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) emergency medical teams are assessing the needs of populations in the areas hit hardest by the earthquake and tsunami in South Asia. MSF is airlifting more than 60 tons of medical, surgical, and water-and-sanitation equipment to Sri Lanka and Indonesia. Currently, MSF teams are on the ground in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.