WHO: Some 26 million people may have been affected by the earthquake in Turkey and Syria
Around 26 million people may have been affected by this week's earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, where dozens of health facilities have been damaged, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced Saturday in a fundraising appeal, Agerpres reports.
The WHO is calling for $42.8 million in emergency funding to meet immediate health needs.
Earlier this week, WHO, which has already released $16 million of its emergency funds, estimated the number of people potentially at risk at 23 million.
On Saturday, the number rose to 26 million - 15 million in Turkey and nearly 11 million in Syria.
Of these, more than five million people are deemed "extremely vulnerable", including nearly 350,000 elderly people and more than 1.4 million children.
In Turkey, more than 4,000 buildings are believed by the WHO to have collapsed in the earthquakes and 15 hospitals to have suffered partial or major damage.
In Syria, where the health system has already been brought to its knees by 12 years of war, at least 20 medical facilities in the north-east of the country, including four hospitals, have been damaged.
The WHO said it had transported 37 tonnes of emergency trauma and surgical supplies to Turkey on Thursday, while 35 tonnes arrived in Syria on Friday.
They "will be used to treat and care for 100,000 people and perform 120,000 emergency surgeries in the two countries," the WHO said, adding that a third flight with a similar cargo would arrive in Syria on Monday.
