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NYC Medics Partners with Relief International to Support IDP Camps in Pakistan
New York City - NYC Medics is teaming up with Relief International to support humanitarian work in internally displaced person (IDP) camps in the Bajeur Agency province of Pakistan. The region has been the site of increased military operations against militant groups in recent months and has resulted in the displacement of more than 400,000 of the area’s 590,000 residents. Pakistani officials report that this is the largest internal displacement due to military action in Pakistan’s history.
NYC Medics, a nonprofit organization of volunteer medical professionals that serves the emergency medical needs of disaster survivors around the world, has made a one-time grant to Relief International for its Mobile Medical Clinics in Bajeur Agency. The grant will be used to provide funding for local medical personnel working in IDP camp clinics. This grant is especially timely in light of the deteriorating security situation in this region of Pakistan, where most aid agencies unable to place international staff on the ground. Both organizations estimate that the influx of funds and supplies will help local health personnel treat an additional 2,000 to 3,000 displaced Pakistani residents.
Christine Amy, Executive Director of NYC Medics, called the decision to support Relief International a natural one. “We share a similar goal of helping the world’s citizens in need of critical medical care. Relief International works with over 500 local healthcare personnel and partners in Pakistan already, so partnering with them to support their efforts to build local healthcare capacity is really in line with our mission.”
NYC Medics is continuing to monitor the situation in Pakistan to assess whether there is enough security in Pakistan to send volunteer teams to assist in both the Bajeur Agency effort and in response to the October 29th earthquake in the southwestern region that claimed over 500 lives. “We are considering the humanitarian need in light of widespread instability and safety concerns in both regions and will continue to support the relief efforts in any way we can,” Amy said.
NYC Medics was founded in 2005, when a group of volunteer physicians and paramedics from New York City traveled to Pakistan to respond to the South Asian Earthquake that devastated much of the country’s northeastern region. Over the course of three trips to Pakistan during our first year, NYC Medics provided medical care to over 12,000 patients and delivered hundreds of weather and element-resistant temporary housing shelters to Pakistani residents who lost their homes as a result of the earthquake.
