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Continuing to Respond to Health Needs in Syria and Ukraine

Direct Relief's Humanitarian Activity for the week of 06/16/2023 - 06/23/2023

News

Operational Update

The staff at Hospitable Hut in Odesa, Ukraine, unload a newly-arrived Direct Relief shipment. (Courtesy Photo)
By Brianna Newport

Over the past seven days, Direct Relief has delivered 419 shipments of requested medical aid to 43 U.S. states and territories and nine countries worldwide.

The shipments contained 4.3 million defined daily doses of medication, including vitamins, cardiovascular medicines, antibiotics and more.

Update on Turkey-Syria Quake Response

The major earthquakes in southern Turkey and northwestern Syria this February caused unprecedented devastation. More than 60,000 people lost their lives, while over 110,000 have been injured as a result of the disaster. In northwest Syria alone, where years of conflict have severely debilitated infrastructure, needs are particularly acute, and conflict-affected communities are without adequate shelter and cannot meet basic needs – in particular, those of women and children. There are an estimated 4.1 million people in need, with 2.9 million classified as internally displaced, and 1.8 million living in camps.

Direct Relief has supported local response organizations in the region, including Syrian American Medical Society, or SAMS, which received $600,000 in emergency operating grant funding the day after the first earthquake struck. One in five patients in all of northwestern Syria receives healthcare services at a SAMS-operated facility and SAMS was quick to ramp up its operations in the initial emergency phase.

Below are a few highlights of SAMS’ completed 4-month response:

  • 3,350 trauma cases were treated in the first 15 days after the earthquake.
  • 239,534 beneficiaries have been reached in the four months after the earthquake.
  • 25+ hospitals and healthcare facilities have been supported.
  • Surgical, orthopedic, and laboratory supplies have been procured to treat earthquake survivors.

Read more about Direct Relief’s response to the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria here.

SAMS staff at work at Al-Dana Warehouse, which has been recently upgraded with support from Direct Relief. The additions will increase emergency storage capacity and operational efficiency. (Courtesy Photo)

Responding to The Dam Explosion in Ukraine

Three days after the dam destruction, the Direct Relief reached out to Hospitable Hut, Kharkiv Renovation Fund and Hromada Hub, three Ukrainian NGOs that conduct their activities in the disaster area. With medical product requests from these groups in hand, Direct Relief compiled a list of products that are in high demand in emergencies of this type. These include, among many others – water purification tablets, disinfectants, antibiotics, and hygienic kits. The list of inventory was shared between these three NGO partners as well as the Ukrainian Ministry of Health.

In total, twelve shipments have been sent (or are in process) to Ukraine, two shipments each for the NGOs mentioned above and six shipments for the Ministry of Health, which includes requests for three most flood-affected cities – Mykolaiv, Odesa and Zaporizhzhia. Also, Direct Relief has supported NGO partner Association Іnternationale de Сoopération Médicale, or AICM, with 300 family hygiene kits (each kit is for a family of 4) and 36 emergency backpacks.

To date, Direct Relief shipped 72 pallets of medical aid for people that suffered as a result of the Kakhovka Dam destruction, and the total value of all shipments is approximately $9,120,583.

British and Ukrainian volunteers display Direct Relief solar-powered delivered to the medical care point in flood-damaged Antonivka, 5 miles from Kherson, Ukraine on June 9, 2023. (Nick Allen/Direct Relief)

OPERATIONAL SNAPSHOT

WORLDWIDE

This week, Direct Relief shipped 1.9 million defined daily doses of medication outside the U.S.

Countries that received medical aid over the past week included:

  • Syria
  • Central African Republic
  • Ukraine
  • Morocco

UNITED STATES

Direct Relief delivered 407 shipments containing more than 9.9 tons of medications over the past week to organizations, including the following:

  • St. Gabriel Eastside Community Health Center, Louisiana
  • End Overdose, California
  • Franklin County Community Care, Texas
  • Cabell-Huntington Health Department, West Virginia
  • Mission Arlington Medical Clinic, Texas
  • Community Care Center, North Carolina
  • Washington State Department of Health, Washington
  • Parker Family Health Center, New Jersey
  • Coastal Bend Wellness Foundation, Texas
  • Palestine – Crossroads Family Care, Texas

YEAR-TO-DATE (GLOBAL)

Since Jan. 1, 2023, Direct Relief has delivered 8,818 shipments to 1,801 healthcare providers in 55 U.S. states and territories and 66 countries.

These shipments contained 274 million defined daily doses of medication valued at $962.2 million (wholesale), totaling 3.3 million lbs.

IN THE NEWS

Video: Relief organization sending needed items to Haiti ahead of possible tropical activity

Anera Delivers Cancer Medicines to Gaza’s Only Hospital Specialized in Cancer Treatment: “The Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital is the only facility specialized to treat cancer patients in Gaza. Supplies of critical cancer drugs were temporarily out of stock and patients had to go through the arduous months-long process of transferring outside Gaza for their treatment. The World Health Organization reports about 42 percent of medical referrals from Gaza to the West Bank are denied or receive no response.

Anera now has delivered a new supply of medicine, thanks to a generous donation from Direct Relief. The shipment contained 255 vials of docetaxel. The drug is used to treat advanced or metastatic breast cancer in patients who have already taken other cancer medications after chemotherapy failed.”

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