The World Medical Association has issued a statement expressing its unity with doctors in Japan.
Dr. Wonchat Subhachaturas, President of the WMA, said: “The World Medical Association would like to express solidarity with its Japanese physician colleagues in their hour of need, appreciating that their expertise is being tested to extremes and thinking of them at this terrible time for their country.”
Calling on members to consider what they might do to help, Dr Subhachaturas added: “Having seen the terrible pictures flashed around the world of the earthquake and tsunami damage, our members appreciate the strain under which Japanese medical services must be working, well knowing that the threatening nuclear catastrophe will make their work and life even more difficult.
“We ask all our national medical association members to consider what assistance they can offer.”
According to the World Health Organization – the latest recommendations from public health experts require people living within 20 km of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to evacuate and those between 20 km and 30 km to stay indoors in unventilated rooms.
Nearly 3,700 people are listed as dead but the actual death toll is expected to top 10,000.