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AMDA Emergency Relief #11: Typhoon Hagibis, Japan

Countries
Japan
Sources
AMDA
Publication date

Nagano:

The reopening of San-ikukai, a local hospital in disaster-hit Nagano City, has been well received since its outpatient services were resumed on November 5th. A female patient in her 70s said she had never been to hospitals elsewhere and felt relieved that her regular clinic is up and running again.

The number of visitors reached 79 in the first four days. Most of the patients were affected by the flood, still being forced to stay at local evacuation facilities or living on the second floor of their damaged houses. A lot of them came in for chronic hypertension and common cold as the colder season started to set in. Earlier on, AMDA was assisting the hospital reopening procedures, but now the clinic has become self-reliant once again.

On the 8th, Nagano City Health Bureau convened a meeting with local medical facilities, pharmacies and medical associations to discuss issues pertaining to post-disaster medical-infrastructure reconstruction in the severely-hit Toyono area.

The meeting produced a range of outcomes which prompted nearby clinics and pharmacies to go ahead with viable measures shared in the session. For instance, it was decided that a surgeon whose clinic was flooded would be accepting his own patients twice a week at San-ikukai until his clinic gets fixed. Likewise, pharmacies will be actively coordinating medicine distribution in the area, while plans are underway to have unaffected hospitals undertake x-ray inspections on behalf of affected ones. Local medical associations showed their eagerness in providing assistance as well.

With all of the above finally set to take their own course, AMDA handed over the entire work to San-ikukai and brought the whole Nagano project to completion.

Miyagi (Marumorimachi):

Although it has been more than a week after AMDA’s relief work ended in Marumorimachi, the arrival of the colder season has begun to take a toll on evacuees at local shelters.

As a follow-up to the earlier clothing donation which AMDA conducted with Japanese garment manufacturer Gunze, they jointly provided the second and third batches of thermal underwear and socks to Tateyama Elementary School and Marumori Machi-Zukuri Center on November 7th and 8th, both of which are still housing several evacuees. People who lined up for the aid said this could ease the coldness they will have to endure during the upcoming winter season.