[Similarities between disaster areas and developing countries in terms of the lack of facilities for clinical examinations].

From the experience of more than 130 emergency medical relief missions in over 50 countries/areas, the AMDA would like to propose a system of mobile clinical examinations to prepare for possible natural disasters in Japan. Such a system will require the development of vehicles equipped with a full range of laboratory equipment, which I believe will become a public property in the world, and contribute to the enhancement of medical services in disaster areas as well as in areas with less developed medical technologies. AMDA's recent medical relief activities include the support of the victims of the earthquakes in Haiti (2010) and Turkey (2011), and the flood in Thailand (2012). In these countries, the AMDA faced the lack of a clinical examination system which resulted in a huge number of patients who could not receive proper treatment after injury, or those who suffered from infectious diseases. Domestically, when the AMDA sent medical teams to the affected areas of the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami (2011), their activities took place mainly in evacuation shelters, where survivors needed treatment for chronic diseases and preventive care. All of these experiences highlight the importance of clinical examination in disaster areas, as well as in developing countries/areas similarly lacking basic medical services. The Japanese Society of Laboratory Medicine will surely play an important role in the development of the proposed system of mobile clinical examinations. The AMDA would like to collaborate with the JSLM in emergency relief activities and medical aid projects in areas affected by disasters or lack basic medical services.