Global Health expects 23 million people to be affected by the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria

The World Health Organization expected that the number of people affected by the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria would reach "23 million people, including 1.4 million children." The organization said that Turkey "has a strong capacity to respond to the crisis," but the current challenge lies in meeting the needs on the Syrian-Turkish border.

The World Health Organization's emergency official, Adelheid Marchand, predicted, on Tuesday, that the number of people affected by the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria would reach "23 million people, including 1.4 million children."

This came in statements made by Marchand at a meeting of the organization held in the Swiss city of Geneva, according to what was reported by the British newspaper "The Guardian".

Marchand said that Turkey "has a strong capacity to respond to the crisis," but the current challenge lies in meeting the needs on the Syrian-Turkish border.

He explained that the Syrian-Turkish border region "has already been facing a humanitarian crisis for years, due to the civil war and the outbreak of cholera."

"This is a crisis on top of multiple crises in the affected region," he added.

The World Health Organization announced yesterday that it would send emergency supplies to the affected areas, including medical supplies and surgical needs.

In turn, the Director-General of the organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that he is "now in a race against time" to provide the necessary relief and needs.

"With every minute, every hour that passes, the chances of finding living survivors diminish," he added, in statements posted on the organization's Twitter account.

On Tuesday morning, the Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Agency (AFAD) announced that the death toll from the earthquakes that hit the south of the country had risen to 3,432.​​​​​​​

At dawn on Monday, a 7.7-magnitude earthquake hit southern Turkey and northern Syria, followed by another hours later with a magnitude of 7.6 and dozens of aftershocks, leaving great losses in lives and property in both countries.​​​​​​​​​