The aid

Italy provides an initial shipment of aid - materials, vehicles and personnel - via the Navy's San Marco Ship.

Besides medical equipment and material for the assistance of the population, an EMT2 field hospital from the Piedmont Region is sent to the affected areas to support the severely damaged local hospitals.

The structure supplied to the Maxi-emergency of the Piedmont Region is the first certified in Italy by the World Health Organisation and offers a capacity of four ICUs.

After an initial stop in the Port of Alessandretta on February 14 - to disembark part of the aid and the field hospital, destined to Defne, a suburb of Antioch - the San Marco Ship resumed its navigation towards Beirut to deliver materials to set up a reception camp in Syria capable of accommodating 1,200 people. Syria, too, requested assistance from the EU Civil Protection Mechanism through the WFP.

As part of the National Service, the Regions, Autonomous Provinces and Volunteer Organisations provided their support with medical supplies and materials to assist the population which, in agreement with the EU Mechanism, are being shipped from the Port of Trieste to the affected territories.