http://timesofearth.com/Health/?NT=3&… WASHINGTON – Governments and international aid agencies have pledged assistance to Haiti after a massive earthquake levelled buildings and caused an unknown number of casualties.Struck by the strongest quake in more than 25 years, hundreds of people are feared dead in what has been described as “a catastrophe of major proportions”.In a statement Barack Obama, the US president, said his government stood “ready to assist the people of Haiti,” as the state department, the US Agency for International Development (USAid) and the United States Southern Command sent search and rescue teams to the Caribbean nation.Hillary Clinton, the secretary of state, said both military and civilian disaster assistance would be sent to Haiti.”The United States is offering our full assistance to Haiti and to others in the region. We will be providing both civilian and military disaster relief and humanitarian assistance and our prayers are with the people who have suffered, their families and their loved ones,” she said in a speech in Hawaii.USAid said it was sending disaster response teams made up of 72 personnel, six search-and-rescue dogs and up to 48 tonnes of rescue equipment.”This is a tragic situation and we will work alongside the Haitian government to provide immediate assistance in the rescue effort,” Rajiv Shah, USAid chief, told the AFP news agency.Aid agencies have said speed is essential in helping survivors, although the first full assessments of the devastation and relief requirements are not likely to begin until first light on Wednesday.”The immediate needs are medication and health care, drinking water, water purification filters and then basic needs such as shelter and hygiene kits the basic necessities for living,” Amy Knorr, Haiti programme manager for the charity World Vision, told Reuters news agency. The United Nations has also joined the relief effort, with former US president Bill Clinton, now a UN special envoy for Haiti, saying that his office and the rest of the UN system were monitoring information coming out of the country.”We are committed to do whatever we can to assist the people of Haiti in their relief, rebuilding and recovery efforts,” he said.Venezuela said it would send a military plane with food, medicine and drinking water, as well as a team of 50 recue workers. Mexico, which has long experience of dealing with devastating earthquakes, is sending a team of doctors and search and rescue workers. Already the poorest nation in the Americas, Haiti has been hit by a series of disasters recently and was battered by hurricanes in 2008.The Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) is providing $200,000 in immediate emergency aid which can be used to provide food, potable water, medicines and temporary shelter. The World Bank, whose local offices were destroyed in the earthquake, is planning to send a team to assess damage. —————- Copyright 2010 THE TIMES OF EARTH (TOE). All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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