CMAT deploys first Primary Health Care team to provide medical relief in Pakistan flood zone.
CMAT Executive Director Valerie Rzepka (far right) met up with CMAT Primary Health Care Team 1, who departed Toronto’s Pearson Airport for Karachi, Pakistan. L-R: Anne Aspler, Resident; Tania Correa, Nurse Practitioner; Matthew Douma, Registered Nurse; Sylvia Walters, Paramedic and Team Leader Rashad Chin, Resident.
September 10, 2010 – Canadian Medical Assistance Teams’ (CMAT) Assessment team, which arrived in Karachi a few days ago, confirmed yesterday the need for Primary Health Care teams to be deployed to Pakistan’s flooded regions. CMAT Team 1 left Toronto’s Pearson Airport late Friday afternoon, and will take with them nearly one half tonne of medical supplies and water purification equipment.
In collaboration with Pakistani Federal and Provincial authorities, the Assessment team identified an under-serviced area in Thatta District, Southern Sindh Province, approximately a 2 to 3 hour drive from Karachi. The affected community, which has a resident population of 25,000, is currently hosting an additional 25,000 internally displaced people (IDP), who are being housed in IDP camps in the vicinity.
CMAT’s Primary Health Care team will provide mobile medical clinics to the outlying areas, to target women and children who would otherwise be unable to access health services. However, the most immediate need is for clean drinking water as the only source of water is the contaminated river. The assessment team reports that the water from the river which people are drinking “looks like tea with milk”.
CMAT Primary Health Care Team 1 members who will be departing for Karachi, Pakistan on Friday afternoon include:
- Dr. J. Rashad Chin, Emergency Resident and Team Leader from Edmonton, AB
- Tania Correa, Nurse Practitioner from Toronto, ON
- Sylvia Walters, PCP Paramedic from Burnaby, BC
- Matthew Douma, Registered Nurse from Edmonton, AB
- Dr. Anne Aspler, Emergency Resident from Toronto, ON
CMAT continues to urgently appeal for donations to support our teams in their efforts to assist the Pakistani people. To make a donation, please click “donate now” above.
CMAT Primary Health Care Team 2 is currently being assembled, and is scheduled to depart Toronto for Pakistan on September 21.
