The massive relief effort in quake-ravaged Haiti is one of the biggest in the 150-year history of the Red Cross, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said Wednesday.
In two weeks, the IFRC has distributed 2.5 million liters (660,000 gallons) of water, 550 tonnes of medical supplies — all transported in 43 chartered flights — and fielded 21 emergency teams in Haiti, the federation's Panama-based regional headquarters said.
"The response to the magnitude-7.0 earthquake on 12 January has been one of the largest in the IFRC movement's 150-year history," Mauricio Bustamante, who manages the Red Cross's Haiti response team, said in a statement.
"Now we have to concentrate on the main future challenges — early recovery and reconstruction — so that those affected can recover, and that the rebuilding process will help to protect communities against future natural disasters such as hurricanes," he added.
In Geneva, the Red Cross said Friday that the quake had triggered one of their biggest responses ever, mobilising more emergency units — some 200 staff — than the Asian tsunami in 2004.
Bustamante said more than 500 people are being treated daily in Haiti in Red Cross health facilities including a 70-bed field hospital.
At least 100,000 people are provided drinking water each day, 26,000 have received relief equipment, and 30,000 emergency health kits and 30,000 shelter kits have been distributed, he added.
"This has been a challenging two weeks for the Red Cross Red Crescent logistics teams, but we have achieved a lot," Bustamante said.
Haiti's President Rene Preval on Wednesday updated the death toll from the quake to "nearly 170,000," with more than one million people made homeless.
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