INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL CORPS COORDINATING ALL NGO HEALTH AGENCY ACTIVITY IN THE BALKANS International Medical Corps (IMC) has been in country since September 1998, providing healthcare for the refugees and supporting the Albanian healthcare system. IMC was UNHCR�s sole health implementing partner and has been working closely with UNHCR and WHO since February, to set in place contingency plans for the possible influx of refugees. When the influx began on Saturday 27th, IMC was able to move its teams into place in 12 hours. IMC has had 6 teams of doctors working in Kukes, Kruma and Has for the past week. This has been carried out in close collaboration with the Hospital Director, UNHCR and WHO. IMC was instrumental in setting up the shelter and feeding programmes in the first days of the influx. These teams are made up of Albanian and Kosovar doctors and nurses. The IMC teams have treated over 6,100 patients in the last week. Over a hundred of these have been emergency trauma cases, particularly people suffering from dehydration and gunshot wounds. In addition to the six teams in the Kukes and Has location, IMC is running 4 teams in the Tirana and Durres areas. These are covering the areas that we previously covered, as well as supporting state doctors at the camps. Through these clinics we are able to provide drugs which the state does not have. IMC has been working in conjunction with the Director of Public Health. IMC with WHO, is responsible for the co-ordination of all NGO health agency activities. IMC is aware of the amazing response that the state doctors have provided and does not want to duplicate their work. Therefore IMC is restricting its work to areas that require transportation to reach, or where the numbers require additional support to the state clinics. IMC will be working closely with the Ministry of Health, as it plans to provide a large quantity of drugs, which it wishes to distribute through the Ministry structure. IMC wishes to provide support and practical assistance wherever they are needed and has the capacity to increase their teams to whatever number is required. IMC is currently accepting donations for it Mobile Clinic Programs in the Balkans via the donor hotline at (800) 481-4462 or at IMC, 11500 West Olympic Blvd., Suite 506, Los Angeles, California 90064-1524 USA. For more information visit the web site at www.imc-la.org. International Medical Corps is a 501 (C) 3 nonprofit organization.
