Colombia earthquake update: MSF response | Doctors Without Borders

How MSF is responding to the Colombia earthquake

During the first days of MSF’s response activities in Quibdó, our teams provided assistance at the Municipal Coliseum shelter and in the Medrano and Las Palmas neighborhoods. They carried out 250 general medical consultations, more than 60 nursing and family planning consultations, and 170 rapid laboratory tests. The teams prioritized care for children under 5, pregnant women, and patients with chronic conditions such as hypertension and diabetes.

To cover people’s mental health needs, MSF has provided 37 individual consultations and seven group psychoeducation sessions, reaching 57 people. The most frequently reported symptoms include hypervigilance, fear of further aftershocks, difficulty sleeping, deep sadness, and psychosomatic reactions such as dizziness and headaches.

In Buenaventura, MSF teams began running mobile clinics on August 20 in the Alberto Lleras neighborhood, one of the most affected areas in the city. They conducted 46 medical consultations, nine individual mental health consultations, and five group sessions, serving 31 patients.

We have also donated hygiene kits, pediatric medicines, antibiotics, wound care supplies, treatments for chronic diseases, and ready-to-use therapeutic food to ESE Ismael Roldán in Quibdó and IPS Espíritu Santo in Unión Panamericana, which supplies rural health posts.

Our teams continue to assess needs and adapt the response to reach the most vulnerable people and those with the least access to medical care.