DOH medical team in Myanmar shared their experience in delivering emergency medical aid to communities affected by the magnitude 7.7 earthquake in the Southeast Asian country.
According to Dr. Ivy Lozada, one of the team leaders of the Department of Health Philippines Emergency Medical Assistance Team (PEMAT) deployed to Myanmar, the group encountered several challenges including communication barriers and extreme heat.
However, there were also fellow Filipinos—teachers and students—who volunteered as interpreters.
The Philippine medical team provided various health services such as outpatient consultations, basic laboratory tests, therapy, psychosocial support, and essential medications to earthquake survivors.
As a survivor of Super Typhoon Yolanda, Dr. Ivy shared that offering help in Myanmar was her way of giving back, saying the country once extended assistance to Tacloban City in Leyte during the typhoon disaster.
As a Yolanda survivor, Dr. Ivy sees their mission in Myanmar as a way of repaying the kindness extended by Myanmar to Tacloban City during the devastating typhoon.
Earlier, Dr. Lozada led PEMAT’s mission, where the team served over a thousand patients affected by the earthquake.
Upon their return to the Philippines, Health Secretary Ted Herbosa praised the team’s skill, bravery, and sacrifice in providing aid to those in need.