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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

September 14, 2023

MedGlobal Responds to Unprecedented Earthquake in Morocco and Floods in Libya

The medical NGO mobilizes to boost the emergency response by the local communities 

A catastrophic flood struck Libya’s eastern coast, with 5,000  confirmed dead and 30,000 still missing after being sucked into the Mediterranean Sea. The flood resulted from the heavy rains from Storm Daniel, causing two dams in the region to collapse, flooding the city of Derna, a city of 150,000. The unprecedented floods in Libya follow a powerful 6.8-magnitude earthquake in Morocco, causing nearly 3,000 casualties and 5,500 injuries south of Marrakech in the Atlas Mountains, with hundreds of thousands more displaced. This earthquake was the worst in North Africa in the last half-century. 

The immediate impacts of the two disasters are deaths, injuries, fractures, shock, wounds, and mental health trauma. However, the long-term impact will be potentially worse, depriving patients with non-communicable diseases, children, and pregnant women of access to healthcare and medications, interrupting the supply chain, and disrupting the already strained healthcare system. 

MedGlobal’s response addresses all aspects of the aftermath of these disasters by providing much-needed medical supplies and medications, mobilizing culturally sensitive teams of healthcare professionals, and strengthening the healthcare system in partnership with local health authorities. 

“Our hearts and thoughts are with the people of Morocco and Libya and the victims’ families. Our main goal is to extend a hand of healing and complement the work being done by the local healthcare providers,” said Dr. Zaher Sahloul, the president of MedGlobal. “There is no doubt in my mind that this disaster in Libya is linked to climate change and the lack of readiness in many countries to the new normal regarding infrastructure and disaster response.”

MedGlobal has an extensive record of providing emergency medical response to natural and man-made disasters, such as the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria in February 2023, and a long history of delivering culturally sensitive medical relief and sustainable healthcare programs in the MENA region. MedGlobal has multiple ongoing and past healthcare programs to improve access to healthcare in war-torn Sudan, Tunisia, Yemen, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and Palestine. 

MedGlobal is an international medical NGO that provides emergency response and sustainable health programs and supports resilient health systems in partnership with communities in disaster regions and low-income countries.

Please contact Courtney Weigal at [email protected] or +1 708-692-0101 to arrange an interview with the MedGlobal team.

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