Earthquake mission: Malaysian medical aid team departs for Nepal

In effort to provide medical aid especially to the earthquake victims in Nepal, a group of Malaysian doctors left for Nepal early Monday morning.

The doctors also brought with them 500 kilograms of medical supply for the 10 day mission.

Along with the 12 volunteers which included doctors, paramedics and media practitioners, the mission was headed by national climber, T. Ravichandran.

The aim of the mission is to provide medical aid to the victims of the devastating earthquake in Nepal especially in the mountainous area.

"We are using the nomadic concept. We will move from village to village and provide medical attention , from small to big cases. That is the objective of our mission," said Ravichandran when met at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) today.

Expecting the physical and mental challenges which they might face during the mission, Ravichandran or better known as 'Ravi Everest' will lead the team with the experience he gained when he climbed the mountain.

"With the height of over 2,000 metre. When we are 2,500 meters above we will face Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS).

"My responsibility is to ensure that all doctors are comfortable without any sign of AMS and for us to provide medical attention for 8 days non-stop, maybe 100r 24 hours each day," said Ravi.

According to Medical Mission chief coordinator, Dr Megat Muhammed Faisal Ismail, the modus operandi of the mission is to establish a mobile clinic in six villages.

"It is already seven days since the incident. We are now expecting for ailments such as fever, caughs, running nose, infection of the respiratory system and digestive system, diarrhea or skin disease such as 'scabies'," said Dr Megat.

The flight departed at 4am Monday from KLIA and is expected to reach Nepal at 6am local time.

The mission was also joined by Astro AWANI reporter, Mariah Ahmad.