Medics' cholera exercise before warzone deployments

Aid agencies have said doctors in Gaza are also struggling to treat dysentery, pneumonia, and severe skin diseases because of the collapse of the health sector

NHS medics are to be tested in coping with a fictitious cholera outbreak in Worcestershire ahead of teams being deployed in Gaza and Ukraine.

The simulated exercise will be staged in a remote area of the county on Tuesday and involve about 30 doctors and nurses, medical aid charity UK-Med said.

A treatment clinic will be set up as the team race against the clock to treat live-actor patients and prevent the spread of the disease, they added.

The charity said it has two field hospitals in Gaza and has treated over 150,000 people so far.

UK-Med acts as the nation’s frontline health response to disasters overseas in agreement with the government, it said.

Melanie Johnson, deputy health director, recently spent six weeks in Gaza and said preparation was crucial.

“Infectious disease outbreaks are common in disaster and conflict zones, where health and sanitation infrastructure are damaged or destroyed – Gaza being an obvious example," she said.

'Treating the vulnerable'

"It’s critical that our medics can handle not only the intense traumatic injuries that we see on the news, but also the many cases of infectious disease such as scabies, hepatitis A, and respiratory tract infections that our team are witnessing in Gaza."

Delegates from an Ethiopian emergency medical team, the UK Public Health Rapid Support Team and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, which helps fund UK-Med’s emergency responses, will be at the exercise.

Minister of State for Development, Anneliese Dodds said: "In Gaza and elsewhere, aid workers from around the UK are operating in some of the most dangerous places in the world, treating the most vulnerable.

"The UK’s official Emergency Medical Team pools medical expertise from across the country to make a real difference in reacting to humanitarian disasters around the globe.

"The UK government is proud to support their crucial work."