Pretoria - As part of the humanitarian mission of the Gift of the Givers relief organisation, currently deployed in the earthquake struck Nepal, about 68 lifesaving operations have been conducted.
The South African surgeons and trauma specialists touched down in earthquake-struck Nepal last week.
The first team comprising of 43 members for search and rescue had arrived in Kathmandu earlier.
The teams are running seven theatres in five hospitals carrying out major surgical procedures, according to the non-profit organisation, while the rescue team searches through the city and deep into the rural areas marking out buildings where victims lay buried.
“A primary health care team is touring several mountainous areas, carrying out house visits and doing outreach programmes for certain hospitals. Patients and their families coming from distant rural areas to the city hospital for medical care are hungry,” the organisation said.
Gift of the Givers is also providing two meals a day for the patients and their families. This is in addition to food parcels which have been packed for distribution to those in distant areas.
To assist with shelter, a tent material for 4000 families was also purchased by the aid group.
On 25 April, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake shook Nepal, killing thousands while limiting access to food and leaving some 3.5 million in need of food assistance.
An estimated eight million people across the country’s western and central regions are affected by the disaster, including its largest cities, Kathmandu and Pokhara. - SAnews.gov.za
