The government is preparing to send 70 to 80 Self-Defense Forces medical personnel to Haiti in addition to a civilian Japanese team already there to help deal with the devastating earthquake.
"The damage caused by the quake remains extremely serious," Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano said Monday, adding that the extra personnel will engage in medical work, including efforts to combat infectious diseases that could spread in quake-hit areas.
The first medical team comprising 25 doctors and health care providers arrived Sunday to provide treatment to survivors over the next two weeks.
After reaching the impoverished nation via Florida aboard an Air Self-Defense Force C-130H transport plane, the team set up at a nursing school in Leogane, a city about 40 km west of Port-au-Prince, the nation's capital.
Leogane, with a population of around 100,000 and in one of the most devastated areas, has no major hospitals and is desperately short of medical aid.
"The people of Haiti are suffering tremendously," said team leader Masato Futaishi. "I'll do my best (to help) as a member of the international community."