×

News publications and other organizations are encouraged to reuse Direct Relief-published content for free under a Creative Commons License (Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International), given the republisher complies with the requirements identified below.

When republishing:

  • Include a byline with the reporter’s name and Direct Relief in the following format: "Author Name, Direct Relief." If attribution in that format is not possible, include the following language at the top of the story: "This story was originally published by Direct Relief."
  • If publishing online, please link to the original URL of the story.
  • Maintain any tagline at the bottom of the story.
  • With Direct Relief's permission, news publications can make changes such as localizing the content for a particular area, using a different headline, or shortening story text. To confirm edits are acceptable, please check with Direct Relief by clicking this link.
  • If new content is added to the original story — for example, a comment from a local official — a note with language to the effect of the following must be included: "Additional reporting by [reporter and organization]."
  • If republished stories are shared on social media, Direct Relief appreciates being tagged in the posts:
    • Twitter (@DirectRelief)
    • Facebook (@DirectRelief)
    • Instagram (@DirectRelief)

Republishing Images:

Unless stated otherwise, images shot by Direct Relief may be republished for non-commercial purposes with proper attribution, given the republisher complies with the requirements identified below.

  • Maintain correct caption information.
  • Credit the photographer and Direct Relief in the caption. For example: "First and Last Name / Direct Relief."
  • Do not digitally alter images.

Direct Relief often contracts with freelance photographers who usually, but not always, allow their work to be published by Direct Relief’s media partners. Contact Direct Relief for permission to use images in which Direct Relief is not credited in the caption by clicking here.

Other Requirements:

  • Do not state or imply that donations to any third-party organization support Direct Relief's work.
  • Republishers may not sell Direct Relief's content.
  • Direct Relief's work is prohibited from populating web pages designed to improve rankings on search engines or solely to gain revenue from network-based advertisements.
  • Advance permission is required to translate Direct Relief's stories into a language different from the original language of publication. To inquire, contact us here.
  • If Direct Relief requests a change to or removal of republished Direct Relief content from a site or on-air, the republisher must comply.

For any additional questions about republishing Direct Relief content, please email the team here.

At Jamaican Hospitals and Health Centers, A New Way to Keep Medicine Cold

Twenty new medical-grade refrigerators will be used to store insulin, cancer drugs, and other essential medications at Jamaican health care facilities.

News

Jamaica

A pharmacist with one of the medical grade refrigerators provided by Direct Relief. (Photo courtesy of the National Health Fund)
By Talya Meyers

When members of the Jamaican government visited Direct Relief in the fall of 2019, they said something that intrigued the organization’s leaders.

Juliet Holness, a member of Jamaica’s Parliament and the country’s first lady, and Everton W. Anderson, CEO of Jamaica’s National Health Fund, explained that the country “wanted to improve and strengthen cold chain capacity,” recalled Genevieve Bitter, Direct Relief’s director of program operations. (“Cold chain” refers to the equipment and procedures used to safely store and transport temperature-sensitive medications.)

Direct Relief had already supported Puerto Rico’s health centers with 164 refrigerators. Tropical storms posed a serious and ongoing threat to the Caribbean island’s power, and climate change only threatened to make the situation worse. Jamaica, also vulnerable to storms, seemed like a perfect candidate for similar support.

But with one important change: This time, the organization would provide refrigerators with a lower environmental impact, said Gordon Willcock, Direct Relief’s deputy director of emergency response. “We also recognize that global warming is creating more disasters, and creating more vulnerability…We don’t want to create long-term challenges due to contributing more to global warming.”

Refrigeration, Willcock explained, has become an increasingly important part of the medical supply chain. “There are more and more humanitarian cold-chain products,” he said.

Jamaica’s hospitals in particular needed medical-grade refrigerators that could store large amounts of insulin and cancer drugs, explained Keron Mais, senior director of pharmacy services delivery for the country’s National Health Fund.

“We didn’t have a lot of medical-grade refrigerators in the hospital pharmacies, and that was important, because you would want the technology that comes with a medical-grade refrigerator,” including the ability to set temperature and receive alerts if a refrigerator’s temperature moved out of range, Mais said.

Direct Relief and the National Health Fund arranged for 20 low global warming potential refrigerators, worth more than $140,000, to be distributed to 14 hospitals and six health centers across the island.

A map showing the placement of Direct Relief-provided medical grade refrigerators across Jamaica. (Direct Relief image)
A map showing the placement of Direct Relief-provided medical grade refrigerators across Jamaica. (Direct Relief image)

“This is truly a significant contribution to the public health system in Jamaica,” said Anderson, the National Health Fund’s CEO. “Safety and quality are of utmost importance to the NHF and these high-quality refrigerators…will strengthen the cold chain capacity for essential drugs.”

Staff members “love the visual temperature display and alerts,” Mais said. In addition, pharmacies can order more medications because the refrigerators are large, decreasing delivery fees and allowing them to have more essential medications on hand.

“It has impacted patient care because we’re able to store more drugs,” said Carol Staple, chief pharmacist at Cornwall Regional Hospital. “It is of great benefit to the staff here at the hospital pharmacy.”

“It has been so much easier and helpful for us to organize our cold chain items….and also to organize and monitor our stock level and to see exactly what we have on hand,” said Simone Palmer, a pharmacy technician at Princess Margaret Hospital’s pharmacy.

This isn’t the first time that Direct Relief and Jamaica’s National Health Fund have worked together. Among other medical support, Direct Relief has supplied Jamaica with factor VIII, a protein that patients with hemophilia lack and that helps blood to clot. “The demand is very sporadic, because you never know when [patients] will need it,” Mais said.

The organization has also provided Survanta, a drug that’s used to treat respiratory distress syndrome in premature babies. Mais recalled that one infant, the child of a medical warehouse worker, was able to receive the medication and survived.

A Direct Relief staff member speaks with pharmaceutical staff at a Jamaican hospital. (Photo courtesy of the National Health Fund)
Direct Relief’s Genevieve Bitter, Direct Relief’s director of program operations, speaks with pharmaceutical staff at a Jamaican hospital. (Photo courtesy of the National Health Fund)

“The partnership with Direct Relief is an important one to the NHF and to the Jamaican people, as the entity has become one of Jamaica’s major sources of donated pharmaceuticals, medical sundries, and personal care items, which has aided the stable supply of essential medicines to public hospitals,” Anderson said.

Asked about working with Direct Relief, Mais said, “They’re very flexible, and very responsive to our needs. And we also get items with good expiry dates.”

Filed Under: , , ,

Giving is Good Medicine

You don't have to donate. That's why it's so extraordinary if you do.