Earthquake deaths top 20,000 as survivors face cholera and other health threats

Enlarge / People line up for drinking water on February 9, 2023 in Hatay, Turkey Getty | Burak Kara

The death toll from the massive earthquake and aftershocks that violently struck parts of southern Turkey and northern Syria in the early hours of Monday has now passed 20,000, a tally staggering devastation.

On Thursday, Turkey's National Emergency Management Agency reported more than 17,000 deaths, as well as more than 70,000 injuries. The Syrian Ministry of Health, meanwhile, reported 1,347 dead and 2,295 injured. Rescuers in rebel-held areas of the country's northwest reported at least 2,030 dead and at least 2,950 injured.

As heroic rescue teams continue to dig through the rubble of collapsed structures, concern grows for those tens of thousands injured and countless others made more vulnerable by the crisis.

"Basics of Life"

“The health needs are enormous,” said Iman Shankiti, a World Health Organization representative for the Syrian Arab Republic, on Wednesday. Commenting on the situation in war-torn Syria, she added: “It is important to note that the health system has suffered over the past 12 years and continues to suffer and continues to be strained by ongoing emergencies, and the latest is this earthquake."

As international aid and relief teams face logistical challenges reaching affected areas, survivors are struggling with the 'basics of life', says earthquake response manager Robert Holden land at the WHO. This includes access to food, water, shelter from life-threatening cold and healthcare, in addition to fuel, electricity and communication systems.

"We have the immediate objective here of saving lives but, at the same time, we have the imperative to ensure that those who survived the initial disaster continue to survive - and we cannot reinforce this point enough. "Holden said. “We are in real danger of seeing a secondary disaster, which could cause more harm to more people than the initial disaster,” he added.

There was particular concern for Syria, where communities faced a variety of other public health threats, including an explosive outbreak of cholera.

Cholera outbreak

The day before the earthquake, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) released the latest report on the outbreak, which began in August. Since then, health officials have documented nearly 85,000 cases of waterborne bacterial infection and 101 deaths from the acute watery diarrhea it causes. The report included data through the week ending January 21, in which 2,750 cases were observed.

Syria is one of 23 countries currently battling cholera outbreaks, which have been exacerbated by a global shortage of vaccines. The shortage of cholera vaccines is largely due to a lack of funding and an upsurge in epidemics around the world.

Some of the areas hardest hit by the cholera outbreak in Syria overlap with those heavily affected by the earthquake, namely the areas around the cities of Aleppo and Idlib. Areas around Idleb, which has been ravaged by civil war and is held by rebels, accounted for 28.5% of Syria's choler...