Mission Bangladesh

Cyclone SIDR, a category 4 cyclone, struck Bangladesh on 15 November 2007. The loss of life was not as heavy as it might have been, because the alert system worked well. The biggest cause of death was drowning and most of the injuries among survivors were minor. Official figures indicated that 3,363 people died, hundreds of thousands of people were left homeless and, in total, 8.9 million people were affected by the cyclone.

Emergency medical aid to victims of cyclone SIDR - 3 districts in South-West Bangladesh: Bagerhat, Barguna, Pirojpur

Activities :

MdM supported the 10 mobile medical teams (50 people) of the Bangladeshi NGO Gonoshasthaya Kendra (GK). The MdM teams’ expertise was used to provide operational support to the GK teams with:

• evaluation and technical support in organising mobile clinics;
• co-ordination with the authorities and other humanitarian actors;
• provision of 10 emergency medical kits, medicines and anti-tetanus vaccine;
• logistical support (food and logistics kits) and transport for teams;
• provision of training on epidemiological data collection;
• provision of training on dissemination of awareness-raising messages and health education sessions
(printing 15,000 posters).

Outlook :

Having met the needs expressed by the GK medical teams, the MdM team was able to withdraw quickly. MdM has maintained links with GK to facilitate the response to any future emergencies and to provide training or other periodic support.

August 2008