On the trail of a killer earthquake which claimed the lives of more than 40,000 people in southern Turkey And in northern Syria, a new crisis is brewing in the affected areas. The lack of running water and countless decaying corpses lying under the rubble, and in some cases even in plain sight, threaten the health of the population.

ABOUT World Health Organization has already committed $34 million to earthquake relief and pledged more. At the same time, he warned that over time the number of victims is likely to double, and we will be able to better assess the situation.

With much of the sanitation infrastructure in areas like Kahramanmaras destroyed or disabled, Turkish health authorities face the difficult task of ensuring survivors, many of whom are homeless, do not get sick.

WHO has already allocated $34 million to help those affected.

Batyr Berdiklitsev, World Health Organization representative in Turkey, noted that the lack of drinking water “increases the risk of waterborne diseases and outbreaks of infectious diseases.” The WHO is working with local authorities to strengthen surveillance for waterborne diseases, seasonal influenza and COVID-19 among displaced people, he said.

Hans Kluge, Head of WHO in the European Region, said: “We are deploying the largest number of emergency medical teams in the European Region in our 75-year history. The task of our teams is to support damaged medical facilities by focusing on caring for tens of thousands of the wounded, many of whom are in critical condition.”

Rescue work continues

Amidst this ominous picture of doom, however, there are still some hopeful messages. On Tuesday evening, a 77-year-old woman was pulled out alive 212 hours after the earthquake, and yesterday Turkish media reported that a 44-year-old man was found alive in Kahramanmaras after being under the rubble for 222 hours.