The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health has provided more than 16,000 family medical kits for households in a series of northern provinces that had been hard hit by typhoon Yagi and the resulting floods and landslides.

This provision is meant to protect the health of the victims in the wake of the super storm.

By Saturday evening, a total of 16,134 family medical kits had been delivered by air to the health departments of Lao Cai, Lang Son, Phu Tho, Cao Bang, Yen Bai, Thai Nguyen, Bac Kan, and Thai Binh Provinces, the Ho Chi Minh City health department reported on Sunday.

Over 10,000 more medical kits will also be sent within Sunday to the northern part to help local families prevent diseases amid flooding as a result of the typhoon, which hit the region on September 7, the agency stated.

A kit includes pain relievers, fever reducers, probiotics, anti-diarrheal medications, skin antiseptics, rehydration solutions, and medicines for allergic rhinitis, hives, itching, as well as for treating stuffy and runny noses, among other essential medications.

The kit also includes personal care items such as adhesive bandages, gauzes, medicated oils, and antiseptic solutions.

These kits are part of the 'Family Medical Kit' program, initiated by the department to donate 30,000 medical kits to 10 northern provinces and cities severely affected by the typhoon.

Many public and private hospitals, medical facilities, and private pharmaceutical companies have actively participated in the program, contributing to disease prevention and control efforts in these flood-hit areas.

Health experts warn that during and after floods, people may face an increased risk of epidemic outbreaks, especially skin, respiratory, eye, digestive, and hand-foot-and- mouth diseases.

The department has extended its recognition and thanks to all medical and pharmaceutical facilities for their significant contributions to the program.

Among the hospitals joining the program are Hung Vuong, Nguyen Tri Phuong, An Binh, Binh Thanh, and Pham Ngoc Thach, along with the city’s Heart Institute, Dermatology Hospital, and others.

The department said 49 hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City stand ready to second health workers to its counterparts in the northern provinces impacted by the typhoon.

By 6:00 am on Sunday, typhoon Yagi and the subsequent floods and landslides had taken 281 lives, injured 1,921 people, and caused 67 others to go missing, according to the Vietnam Disaster and Dyke Management Authority under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.    

Estimated economic losses due to the natural calamities had reached about VND31.6 trillion (US$1.29 billion), the agency said.

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