Emergency kits for skin grafts and basic bone surgery are part of 24.5 tonnes of medical aid being sent by the World Health Organization from its logistics hub in Dubai on Tuesday to assist victims of the earthquake in Afghanistan.
The $330,000 worth of aid was loaded on to lorries at WHO warehouses in Dubai's International Humanitarian City (IHC) on Monday and was then flown to Kabul on Tuesday night.
From there, it will be distributed to assist people in the eastern provinces of Khost and Paktika where a 6.1-magnitude earthquake last Wednesday killed more than 1,000, injured at least 1,400 and left thousands homeless.
It includes non-communicable disease (NCD) kits and testing equipment for cholera, the potentially fatal gastrointestinal infection that officials fear could spread rapidly amid a lack of safe water supplies and proper sanitation.
"Reports indicate that this is the deadliest earthquake in two decades, further compounding the alarming humanitarian situation in Afghanistan," said Giuseppe Saba, chief executive of IHC.
"The IHC, under the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, is accelerating the rapid response of the international humanitarian community as it rallies to come to the aid of those impacted by the disaster."
Last week, the UAE sent food, aid and medical supplies to Afghanistan after President Sheikh Mohamed ordered an air bridge to be established for the relief effort. A medical team and field hospital were also sent to south-east Afghanistan, state news agency Wam reported.
Afghanistan is also suffering from an economic crisis, a drought reducing crop yields and a food crisis made worse by the Russian war in Ukraine, which has hit wheat exports across the world. These problems, as well as the recent earthquake, have taken their toll on Afghans who have been struggling to find jobs and make ends meet through decades of conflict.
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