INDONESIAN MEDICAL TEAM RETURNS AFTER TREATING ALMOST 5,000 IN MYANMAR QUAKE RESPONSE

By Mohd Iswandi Kasan Anuar

JAKARTA, April 25 (Bernama) -- Indonesia has concluded its emergency medical mission in Myanmar, where its team treated nearly 5,000 people following a powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake that struck the country on March 28, leaving over 3,600 people dead, more than 4,800 injured, and at least 141 still missing.

The team, deployed under the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), officially concluded its 15-day operation on April 21 and returned to Jakarta on Thursday.

According to BNPB, a total of 4,874 patients were treated at a field hospital in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar's capital, with the busiest day seeing medical personnel attending to 660 patients.

Its humanitarian mission coordinator, Ary Laksmana Widjaja, described the operation as a “remarkable achievement”, with an average of 325 patients treated daily.

As part of its ongoing support, the Indonesian government has donated a field hospital and medical equipment to Myanmar’s Ministry of Health, with the donated facilities being handed over to a hospital in Oattara Thiri.

Myanmar’s government expressed its gratitude for the aid, which was coordinated through its National Disaster Management Committee, Ary stated in a statement. 

The Indonesian team, comprising doctors, nurses, midwives and logistics staff from the Ministry of Health’s medical reserve unit, was deployed under the coordination of the ministry’s Crisis Centre.

This mission forms part of Indonesia’s broader commitment to international humanitarian assistance, as the country has previously sent emergency medical teams to Pakistan in response to the 2022 floods and to Türkiye following the 2023 earthquake.

-- BERNAMA