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Direct Relief Emergency Aid Shipment Departed for Haiti Tonight - Organization scaling up emergency infusion to treat 10,000 cholera patients

Source: Direct Relief International

Date: 22 Oct 2010

October 22, 2010 - 5 pm

Direct Relief International has dispatched this afternoon a shipment of critically needed medical aid to Haiti in response to the cholera outbreak there. Valued at more than $60,000 (wholesale), the consignment includes more than eight tons of material, including antibiotics to treat the infection and IV supplies.

Facilities in the St. Marc area are overwhelmed with cholera patients; Partners in Health reports that its facility in St. Marc is treating 1,600 people alone. With new cases appearing near Port-au-Prince, prevention is also critical. Direct Relief also dispatched 400 hygiene kits today from our warehouse in Haiti, which are being sent to St. Marc tonight to help improve personal sanitation and prevent the spread of cholera.

Dr. Georges Dubuche, of Management Sciences for Health, described the outbreak as a "terrible situation that threatens the nation."

Direct Relief is scaling its infusion of emergency medical aid to treat approximately 10,000 people, and is collaborating with governmental and nongovernmental agencies to assist in the response. Haiti's Director of Pharmacy, Mrs. Flaurine Joseph, has extended a request for Direct Relief's assistance in responding to the outbreak. Mrs. Joseph visited Direct Relief's headquarters earlier this year to learn about and observe the tight controls on pharmaceuticals and other medical aid we provide.

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Direct Relief Delivering Urgently Needed Medical Aid to Fight Cholera Outbreak in Haiti

October 22, 2010

Direct Relief International is urgently delivering needed medical aid to partners in Haiti responding to the fast-moving cholera outbreak. Partner health facilities and news reports have indicated that more than 140 people have already died in the few days since the outbreak began. While the outbreak is currently in the central plateau, about 60 miles north of Port-au-Prince, the fear is that cholera will spread quickly among the hundreds of thousands of people still living in camps after the January earthquake.

Hospital Albert Schweitzer and Partners in Health in St. Marc and St. Damien Hospital in Port-au-Prince have requested materials to treat the diarrheal disease, which can quickly become fatal as a patient becomes dehydrated. The materials include IV sets and solutions, oral rehydration solutions for adults and children, antibiotics, soap, bleach, masks, gloves, and water purification tablets.

With Direct Relief's relationships and systems put in place in response to the January 2010 earthquake, the organization is ideally positioned to expedite this urgently needed aid. Hurricane modules, which contain such items as oral rehydration solution and other appropriate products, were pre-positioned in June with Partners in Health, St. Damien Children's Hospital, and Justinian University Hospital in Cap-Haitien (north of the outbreak).

Seven ocean freight containers are in port in Haiti now, with four containing materials that can be used to help cholera patients. Direct Relief is also working to source urgently needed material to air freight to Haiti. The organization is coordinating efforts with the Haitian Ministry of Health and Georges Dubuche of Management Sciences for Health to expedite the response and save lives.

Cholera spreads through compromised water and sanitation systems; it is believed that this outbreak has originated near the Artibonite River. With more than 1,500 cases reported so far, the outbreak could reach tragic proportions if it hits the nearby camps in Port-au-Prince.

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