Junko Shiroko
Takayama Red Cross Hospital, Japan
Title: Medical relief operation for Syrian refugees in northern Greece
Biography
Biography: Junko Shiroko
Abstract
Due to a mass population movement from Syria and Iraq to Greece and the closure of Balkan route February 2016, almost 57,000 are stranded in Greece. The Finland and German Red Cross Society jointly started Basic Health Care Emergency Response Unit for providing medical assistance to immigrants and refugees. The team was consisted of doctors, nurses, midwives, mental care personnel, interpreters and technicians from various countries. And each member of the medical staff of 20 persons served for 4 weeks to be succeeded by a new member. I participated in this mission as a physician and we treated 50~70 patients/day at the general outpatient tents in three refugee camps each, with interpreters who speak Arabic or Kurdish. Since more than 40% of residents are children, we had many upper respiratory tract infections. Unlike natural disasters, as people lived in a camp longer, we were forced to respond to chronic diseases such as diabetes or heart diseases. There were cases of region-specific diseases such as Familial Mediterranean fever or Leishmaniasis. Some special drugs needed were not available at the basic healthcare level. There were relatively many cases of patients whose symptoms were thought to have been caused by mental stress. We sometimes sent patients to a Greek hospital who needed close examination and treatment. While the future is still unpredictable for refugees, I hope things may turn for the better to any extent.