Earthquakes in Colombia keep disrupting efforts to build up a workable healthcare system. The European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO) plans to give a helping hand with funding of 400,000 European Currency Units (Ecu) for a series of projects to rebuild shattered hospitals and health centres in both town and countryside.

Medecins Sans Frontieres Luxembourg (MSF) will provide technical assistance for the University Hospital in Santiago de Cali. The Spanish non-governmental organisation Medecins du Monde will provide medical equipment, medicines and logistical help to nine health centres in the earthquake-prone rural area of Pereira.

The projects are scheduled to last six months, and they will help to meet the basic health needs of some 90,000 people.