Two dozen pallets of requested medicines and medical supplies are bound for healthcare facilities in Peru, where unrelenting rains and deadly flooding over the past three months have washed away homes and buildings and claimed at least 72 lives across the country.
These devastating effects, compounded by arid landscape and preceding drought conditions, have prompted Peru to declare a state of emergency.
In response, Direct Relief is assisting local healthcare partners throughout the country with provisions of medical supplies that include wound care items and antibiotics.
More shipments to the region are also being prepared after health care facilities in the region issued calls for additional aid.
One partner receiving aid is VIDA Perú, located in Lima, which delivers medical and humanitarian aid to hospitals and clinics within the country.
The shipment to VIDA also includes 5,000 canisters of insect repellent that were requested by the organization.
Peruvian officials reported the first case of Zika virus infection last April.
The canisters were donated by 3M as part of Direct Relief’s Zika prevention efforts and will be distributed with priority to women of childbearing age in the region. Zika virus has now crossed the Andes into Peru and remains a public health concern.
Another partner, Asociación Paz Perú, is located in the southern part of the country and will be receiving a smaller portion of the shipment.
