UAE-based initiative helps thousands affected in Afghanistan earthquake

Abu Dhabi: Following the deadliest earthquake to hit Afghanistan in two decades, the UAE-founded Fatima Bint Mohamed Bin Zayed Initiative (FBMI) has sent aid and vital medical support to thousands of people impacted by the crisis.

FBMI has deployed its mobile healthcare teams on theground to assist villages in eastern Afghanistan most affected by the earthquake. More than 1,000 people have been killed there, with thousands more injured and in need of urgent assistance.

Over the weekend, FBMI teams reached parts of Paktika province, near the border with Pakistan, which has been worst-hit. Vital food aid has been delivered, along with tents for shelter and medicines.

FBMI doctors are also providing basic healthcare to children, women and men as fears of a cholera outbreak grow. Basic sanitation is lacking in the area, and with hundreds of homes destroyed, the need for urgent medical assistance is growing by the day.

“The situation on-the-ground is incredibly desperate. Many people have no food or drinking water, some hospitals and clinics have been damaged and there’s growing concern of a cholera outbreak emerging in the weeks ahead,” said Maywand Jabarkhyl, chief executive officer at FBMI.

“The areas most affected by the earthquake are very remote, hard to access and far away from major cities. One key issue that people are facing is the lack of hospital beds, as well as reports that there are very few female doctors available,” he added.

FBMI provides communities with critical social services on a daily basis, especially women and children.

“We wanted to help relief efforts and deployed our mobile healthcare teams to the main districts of Gayan and Barmal, in Paktika province. We are providing tents and medical care to women, children and families. Children are suffering mostly from diarrhoea so it’s imperative that we treat them as quickly as possible,” Jabarkhyl said.