Direct Relief is airlifting five pallets of urgently needed medical aid to Pakistan to assist people affected by flooding there. The consignment, sent via Pakistan Air, contains a range of requested materials including pharmaceuticals, lactated Ringer’s solution for intravenous administration of medicines, multivitamins, gloves, stethoscopes, blood pressure cuffs, syringes, and needles, valued at more than $3.4 million (wholesale).

Murshid Hospital and Health Care Center in Karachi is receiving the shipment; the hospital is managing a large-scale response to the needs of people affected by flooding, including those suffering from waterborne diseases. During flood situations, respiratory and skin infections pose a threat to health, as well as diarrheal diseases that can become fatal if a patient becomes severely dehydrated.

This airlift will boost capacity of the hospital to treat patients in need. Murshid Hospital has been a longtime partner of Direct Relief, and played an integral role in the flood response last year.

Direct Relief’s emergency response team continues to monitor the situation and is sourcing additional aid to meet requests for aid.