NARITA, Chiba Pref. (Kyodo) Japan has dispatched an emergency medical team to help victims of the massive earthquake in Haiti.
The 25-member team, which includes four doctors, seven nurses and a pharmacist, flew out of Narita International Airport on Saturday and is scheduled to stay for two weeks in the Caribbean nation.
"The world helped us at the time of the Great Hanshin Earthquake 15 years ago," Yasufumi Asai, a Sapporo Medical University professor who heads a committee supporting the team, told the team members before their departure. "I want you to see this as an opportunity to return the favor we received."
The magnitude 7 quake struck Tuesday, devastating the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation.
Tadateru Konoe, 70-year-old president of the Geneva-based International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, also headed to Haiti on Saturday from Narita, telling reporters, "The challenge from this point forward is to make a long-term rescue plan."