Citation

Villasana D. Lancet 2023; 401(10380): 894-909.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/S0140-6736(23)00499-3

PMID

36933934

Abstract

The earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria on Feb 6, 2023, will have lasting health and humanitarian impacts. Current estimates indicate more than 50 000 people have died and over 100 000 people have been injured. Thousands of buildings and much infrastructure are destroyed, with millions of people displaced, including vulnerable populations such as children, pregnant women, people living with chronic health conditions or disabilities, and older people. In Türkiye--a country grappling with a flailing economy and the impacts of the conflict in neighbouring Syria--the devastation of the earthquakes will take years to repair. In the affected places, days passed before large-scale rescue crews, aid, and medical support arrived. Along Türkiye's border with Syria, there were delays in the delivery of aid, undermining recovery efforts in a region already wrecked by conflict for more than a decade. The earthquake has worsened an already challenging situation where infrastructure and health-care facilities have been damaged or destroyed and many Syrians are without access to adequate food sources or health care and struggle with injuries, disabilities, and trauma, among other health needs...

Language: en

Keywords

Humans; *Disasters; *Earthquakes; Syria