Over the past seven days, Direct Relief has delivered 324 shipments of requested medical aid to 32 U.S. states and territories and 10 countries worldwide.

The shipments contained 6.1 million defined daily doses of medication, including first aid kits, vitamins, cardiovascular medicines, antibiotics, and more.

Personal Care Packs En route to the U.S.-Mexico border

Among this week’s shipments were requested personal care items for displaced people living in shelters in El Paso, Texas. Centro San Vicente, a federally qualified health center providing health care in the region, requested the packs for people who have recently migrated to the United States. Seventy-five personal care packs containing soap, shampoo, dental hygiene products, and more were shipped. Direct Relief has supported Centro San Vicente with $2.3 million of medical aid since 2009, including essential medications for chronic disease management and personal care products for displaced people.

The center also received financial support from Direct Relief’s Fund for Health Equity to fund a mobile health clinic staffed in part with university students, serving homeless and uninsured individuals with primary, dental, pharmacy, and mental health care.

Mental Health medications reach hospital in Pakistan

Karwan-e-Hayat, Psychiatric Care & Rehabilitation Center in Karachi, Pakistan, recently received a shipment from Direct Relief containing mental health and psychiatric medications and 200 personal care kits filled with hygiene items and menstrual products. Hospital staff shared, “These medicines will be provided for the treatment of our outpatients, inpatients, and at our community outreach camps. Karwan-e-Hayat Institute for Mental Health Care has been providing quality treatment, mainly to the underserved…patients since 1983, through our two static sites and 19 community outreach locations.

[Our hospital] has a capacity of 110 patients and… we envision a society that understands and values good mental health practices, protects and treats people suffering from mental disorders with dignity, fairness and respect. We continue to remain indebted to Direct Relief for the continued assistance and support that has been extended to Karwa-e-Hayat and look forward to further strengthening the relationship between our two organizations.”

Tetanus and rabies vaccines reach northwest Syria

The IDA (Independent Doctor’s Association) in Syria recently received 3,400 doses of tetanus vaccine and 1,489 vials of rabies vaccine via refrigerated, cold chain shipment from Direct Relief after submitting a request for these drugs. They will be administered to health facilities around northwest Syria via the Syrian Immunization Group and WHO. The region still faces heightened health challenges post the February earthquakes, which killed over 4,500 people there and damaged 55 health facilities.

Direct Relief has worked with IDA in Syria since 2017, and has donated $11.4 million worth of health products, including wound care items, antibiotics, cardiovascular medications, vaccines and more.

Response to Flooding in Kherson, Ukraine, Continues

Hospitable Hut, an NGO based out of Odesa, Ukraine, continues to address urgent health needs after the flooding in Kherson, Ukraine, that began in early June after the Nova Kakhovka dam collapse. They recently received an emergency shipment from Direct Relief which contained family hygiene kits, water purification tablets, oral rehydration salts, vitamins and other medications.

Partnership coordinator Olexandr Cherepanov shared this feedback with Direct Relief: “These goods were really timely because the rural population doesn’t have proper medications and hygiene items and is severely restricted, in terms of finances, in their ability to purchase what they need for the survival.

We expect that this humanitarian crisis will last for many months because this population is totally dependent on the land and farming, but now it is impossible to make an income from these means due to the damage caused by the flood. Crops, animals, and food storages are gone, so the part of local population which cannot live their homes needs continuous support. This help [we provided] was literally direct relief for many vulnerable and sometimes desperate people.”

Direct Relief will continue to respond to requests for support from Hospitable Hut and other local response organizations.

OPERATIONAL SNAPSHOT

WORLDWIDE

This week, Direct Relief shipped 5.5 million defined daily doses of medication outside the U.S.

Countries that received medical aid over the past week included:

• Ukraine
• Bangladesh
• Liberia
• Tunisia
• St. Lucia
• Mexico
• Burundi

UNITED STATES

Direct Relief delivered 312 shipments containing more than six tons of medications over the past week to organizations, including the following:

• Catherine’s Health Center, Michigan
• St. Clare Medical Outreach, Maryland
• St. Vincent de Paul Charitable Pharmacy, Ohio
• Free Medical Clinic of the Ozarks, Missouri
• West Virginia Health Right, West Virginia
• Washington State Department of Health, Washington
• Triangle Area Network, Texas
• St. Vincent de Paul Pharmacy, Texas
• Granville Vance Public Health Granville County Health Department, North Carolina
• Acacia Medical Mission, Texas
• Santa Clara County Better Health Pharmacy, California

YEAR-TO-DATE (GLOBAL)

Since Jan. 1, 2023, Direct Relief has delivered 9,676 shipments to 1,928 healthcare providers in 55 U.S. states and territories and 71 countries.

These shipments contained 283.9 million defined daily doses of medication valued at $1 billion (wholesale), totaling 3.5 million lbs.