Dispatch of a Third Japan Disaster Relief Medical Team in Response to the Disaster in Indonesia Caused by the Major Earthquake off the Coast of Sumatra and the Tsunami in the Indian Ocean

January 18, 2005

On January 17 (Mon), the Government of Japan decided to dispatch to Indonesia a third Japan Disaster Relief Medical Team, comprising about 20 persons including experts in the field of infectious diseases, in succession to the first Japan Disaster Relief Medical Team whose dispatch was decided on December 29 and the second on January 7, for the relief of the disaster caused by the major earthquake off the coast of Sumatra and the tsunami in the Indian Ocean. The first group consisting of eight persons (an official of the Foreign Ministry, two doctors, three nurses, a pharmacist and an official of the Japan International Cooperation Agency) will depart from Japan on January 18.
The second team now on duty in Indonesia is scheduled to return to Japan on January 21. As public hygiene and preventive measures against infectious diseases become problems to be tackled in the affected areas, the Government of Japan has decided to dispatch the third Japan Disaster Relief Medical Team that includes specialists in those fields.

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