EARTHQUAKE IN PERU
Situation Report No. 3—26 June 2001
The Ministry of Health in Peru has declared a state of emergency Arequipa, Moquegua and Tacna, as well as in Parincacocha, Paucar, and Sara Sara in the department of Ayacucho. The international community has been requested to assist in the relief and rehabilitation efforts in the affected areas.
A National Rehabilitation Commission was approved to allow the Ministry of Economy to sign emergency credits with the World Bank and the Inter American Development Bank for 20 million dollars.
An Executive Emergency Commission was created and the health sector is well represented. The purpose is to take immediate actions to serve urgent needs for the population. The public treasury has earmarked US$ 14.2 million for this purpose.
To guarantee a transparent and expeditious management of international assistance, the chief of the National Institute of Civil Defense has mandated the use of the SUMA system in the three principal points of arrival and distribution of aid: Arequipa, Tacna, and Moquegua. The SUMA teams began to operate in these three localities with local personnel trained previously with the technical support of PAHO/WHO.
The Civil Defense reported that the number of deaths had increased to 97, missing to 53, and the number of injured to 1,169. 46,470 are homeless, 121,035 affected and 41,000 homes have been destroyed .
Rural areas are still not accessible by land. Various brigades have been sent to those areas by all the available means.
The disaster office of the Ministry of Health reports that although there are moderate or little damage in urban health centers, 90% of them continue to function. To date have been reported destroyed at least 10 peripheral health facilities in Moquegua (3), Camaná (1), and Ayacucho (6).
A general list of needs for drugs and medical supplies was issued for respiratory infections, diarrheal diseases, dermatitis and anxietyas well as needs for water purification, 20-liter water containers and other basic sanitation, blankets and other covers.This list will be reviewed periodically, as new information is available.
Three teams of epidemiologists from the Ministry of Health have been mobilized with the support of PAHO/WHO to strengthen the disease surveillance network and manage information and outbreaks at the local levels.
Engineers and architects specialized in assessing damages in hospital infrastructure were deployed to Tacna by PAHO/WHO to evaluate conditions in the Hospital Hipólito Unánue. They found that the damage did not jeopardize the structural integrity of the hospital. An evaluation of the non-structural elements and equipment will be performed so that the hospital can resume functioning. This hospital was evacuated after the earthquake as a precautionary measure and the patients are being treated in tents.
Another team of engineers is in Arequipa evaluating the hospitals in this city. Service was partially interrupted in two of these facilities (Govenche and Social Security) due to major damage in two wings. These teams will be evaluating other outlying areas.
PAHO/WHO is collaborating with the evaluation team of the Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA). This team is supporting the Ministry of Health in the damage and needs assessment by land and air in inaccessible areas. They have mobilized computers and software to improve the management of SUMA by local personnel in Moquegua and Tacna.
A team of professionals from Chile's Office of Disasters of the Ministry of Health and the University of Chile's PAHO/WHO Collaborating Center for hospital mitigation inspected the hospitals in Arica and Iquique in the north of Chile and did not find any structural damage. The hospital Juan Noé in Arica also had no structural damage and resume normal operations. These professionals will be integrated into the Peruvian team for the evaluation of health facilities in Tacna.