AmeriCares News

Responding to the China Earthquake
May 16, 2008

A rescue worker carries a survivor from a collapsed building in the old city district near a mountain at the earthquake-hit Beichuan county, Sichuan province, May 15, 2008. The death toll from China's massive earthquake could reach more than 50,000, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Thursday, quoting rescue headquarters.
REUTERS/Jason Lee
Courtesy www.alertnet.org

The death toll in China has passed 22,000 and the number is expected to climb to over 50,000 as thousands remain buried in the rubble.  Millions of people in the Sichuan Province have been left homeless in the aftermath of the 7.9 earthquake, the country’s worst natural disaster in 30 years. Sichuan Province is located in the Southwest of China and is a densely populated region (with over 85 million residents). The suffering has been made even worse by over 4,000 aftershocks throughout the already devastated areas.

AmeriCares emergency response experts are in China meeting with local nongovernmental organizations to assess the health care needs and coordinate our emergency response with local and international charities. We are working with our long-standing partner, the China Primary Health Care Foundation, physicians at Sichuan Provincial People’s Hospital and other health care organizations to deliver critical medicines and medical supplies.

To maximize our relief efforts and avoid importation delays, AmeriCares is also exploring partnerships with other local non-governmental organizations and multinational pharmaceutical donors with offices in China.

We will continue to keep you posted on our response to this disaster as more details arrive from our colleagues in the field.