Doctors to give help to refugees
A DOCTOR working in Bridgend is travelling to one of the world’s largest refugee camps to help give vital aid to victims of the migrant crisis.
Zubair Wani, a trainee GP working in palliative care in the Princess of Wales Hospital, Bridgend, and fellow doctor Haroon Ali will spend six days at the Adana camp in southern Turkey as part of a humanitarian mission with the United Aid Network.
They fly out today and will set up a small clinic in basic conditions with limited supplies.
United Aid Network, a non-profit organisation, will also provide food packs and educational supplies and undertake sanitation projects including toilet and water system installations to reduce the risk of disease.
Dr Wani and Dr Ali, a junior doctor in orthopaedics in Morriston Hospital in Swansea, are going to Turkey in their own time and at their own expense. They have both been fundraising to help buy medical equipment, antibiotics and other medication, food packages and any other supplies which are in short supply.
Dr Wani, who lives in Cardiff, said: “It’s the first time either of us has been out there. One of my friends went in February. I saw some of the work he did and wanted to get involved.
“It’s a very large camp and they rarely see any doctors. My friend went last time and he was inundated because he was the only medic there.
“Hopefully it will be less stressful this time because there will be five medics and two nurses so we will be able to plan things better.
“We will be working in a tent with limited, basic resources, but at least it provides them with more than they are getting now.”
There are now 4.9 million refugees as a result of the Syrian conflict. Poverty, poor sanitation and risk of disease are rife in camps such as Adana, which is located in southern Turkey, an hour from the border.
It is home to about 7,000 men, women and children.
Dr Ali said: “These are the most desperate of people, having been forced from their homes in the last six years.
“They have been left in what is essentially a campsite, with no realistic prospect of being rehoused.
“They have no access to jobs and hence rely almost entirely on donations to survive. There is a desperate shortage of food, medicines and medical staff.”
Each doctor has set up a JustGiving page to raise money. Dr Wani’s is www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/ adana and Dr Ali’s is www.justgiving. com/crowdfunding/medicalaidadana
The two doctors have also organised cash collections at their hospitals.