ReliefWeb

By Staff, Direct Relief

Medical aid departs for 10 countries over the past seven days.

Over the past seven days, Direct Relief has delivered 190 shipments of requested medical aid to 34 U.S. states and territories and 10 countries worldwide.

The shipments contained 3 million defined daily doses of medication, including antibiotics, insulin, antihistamines, cardiovascular medications, and more.

The organization is tracking multiple disasters across the globe, and will continue to respond.

HURRICANE KAY

Hurricane Kay made landfall Thursday afternoon in Mexico, lashing the west coast of Baja California Sur with heavy rains and winds reaching 75 mph, prompting Mexico’s Civil Protection Agency to issue a red alert for potential flash floods and landslides.

Direct Relief is coordinating with the government of Baja California to supply the state Civil Protection Agency and other first responders with 40 emergency field medic packs and other hurricane and flood-related medical supplies for deployment to affected and difficult-to-reach areas, including trauma care items, antibiotics, and medications for diabetes, hypertension and other chronic conditions.

Direct Relief will remain in close communication with Mexico and U.S.-based agencies and health facilities along the storm’s projected path and will provide additional information as the situation evolves.

PAKISTAN FLOODING

An emergency shipment of essential medicines and supplies is being staged for departure to Islamabad, Pakistan, where the supplies will be used to support the country’s health system that is treating displaced and injured people impacted by recent floods.

Included in the shipments are essential medicines for chronic diseases like high blood pressure and diabetes, field medic tents for improvised emergency care, personal care products for displaced people, and more.

MORE MEDICAL SUPPORT TO SRI LANKA

More than 70 pallets of requested medication departed for Sri Lanka this week, to bolster hospitals and clinics providing care in the wake of shortages of essential medications. This week, the Honorable Dr. Lalith Priyalal Chandradasa, Consul General of Sri Lanka, visited Direct Relief’s Santa Barbara headquarters to see the staged shipment before it left for the country.

The shipment was the latest in a series to support the health system, including shipments of diabetes therapies and supplies through the Life for a Child program, which connects children with Type 1 diabetes with charitable insulin and diabetes management and testing supplies.

UKRAINE RESPONSE

Since February 24, Direct Relief has provided medical aid to Ukraine weighing more than 1.8 million pounds, or 900 tons, with more on the way.

Over the past seven days, shipments including wound care supplies, PPE, nutritional supplements, and more departed Direct Relief’s warehouse in California bound for Ukraine.

This week, Direct Relief and Pelion S.A. announced an additional infusion of $5 million (USD) into Health4Ukraine, an effort that allows Ukrainian refugees in Poland to obtain medications at no cost.

The $5 million commitment follows an initial $10 million investment by Direct Relief in April, and participants in the program can redeem the codes at any pharmacy in Poland to pay for a range of healthcare products, from diabetes and cancer medications to baby formula and wound care items.

The expanded $5 million commitment, made possible by a donation from LetterOne, was announced at the Economic Forum in Karpacz, Poland, where Direct Relief was recognized with an award for its efforts to support Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees.

OPERATIONAL SNAPSHOT

WORLDWIDE

This week, Direct Relief shipped more than 2.4 million defined daily doses of medication outside the U.S.

Countries that received medical aid over the past week included:

• Tajikistan
• Sudan
• Lebanon
• Pakistan
• Honduras
• Morocco
• India
• Panama
• Central African Republic

UNITED STATES

Direct Relief delivered 177 shipments containing 602,704 doses of medications over the past week to organizations, including the following:

• Washington State Department of Health, Washington
• Lifecycles Health Services, Inc., New Jersey
• Faith Family Medical Clinic, Tennessee
• Sandgaard Foundation, Colorado
• Utah Naloxone
• Feed my Sheep Free Children’s Clinic, Texas
• Acacia Medical Mission, Texas
• TOMAGWA Healthcare Ministries, Texas
• Bee Busy Wellness Center, Texas
• The Urban Clinic of Atlanta, Georgia

YEAR TO DATE (GLOBAL)

Since January 1, 2022, Direct Relief has delivered 13.3K shipments to 1,900 healthcare providers in 53 U.S. states and territories and 86 countries.

These shipments contained 397.4M defined daily doses of medication valued at $1.3B (wholesale), totaling 9.7M lb.

IN THE NEWS

• Aid for the Purchase of Medicines for Ukrainian Patients – Rzeczpospolita: “The “Health4Ukraine” programme is addressed to people from Ukraine who arrived in Poland after 24 February and need support in purchasing medicines.”
• Health4Ukraine is ready to re-finance Ukrainians – Ukrainian in Poland: “Registration for the Health4Ukraine program is open again, whose participants can receive funding for the purchase of medicines or other pharmacy products.”