Millwood, VA – Project HOPE sent an airlift of medicines and supplies to Haiti on Friday (Nov. 4) as health needs persist one month after Hurricane Matthew blasted through the Caribbean nation.
The global health development organization has been working closely with Haiti’s Ministry of Health and other NGOs in response to the disaster.
The medicines and medical supplies will be delivered to the Cholera Treatment Center located at GHESKIO, a Haitian health care and research facility in Port-au-Prince and to the Albert Schweitzer Hospital, a 100-bed hospital in Deschapelles, in the Artibonite Valley, where previous cholera outbreaks have occurred.
“We’re collaborating with the government and local partners to support Haiti’s health system, which has been seriously compromised by the disaster,” said Scott Crawford, Senior Director of Humanitarian Operations at Project HOPE. “We are delivering a range of much-needed medicines and supplies including antibiotics, water hydration tablets, gloves, saline solution, sponges, gauze, water purification units, and generators.”
Haiti’s health facilities were severely damaged or destroyed by the hurricane and there are about 3,500 suspected cholera cases.
The government will begin a cholera immunization campaign next week as cholera spreads quickly once the bacteria enters the water supply.
HOPE said additional medicine and medical supplies valued at over $8 million dollars are also being processed for health facilities in coordination with the Ministry of Health.
Project HOPE has also deployed medical volunteers to the southern region of Nippes. The HOPE medical team has been providing direct patient care at the St. Therese Hospital in Miragoane for several weeks and is also involved in the assessment of needs and health capacity building.
HOPE said medical volunteer deployments will continue in the coming weeks as health needs evolve.
The death toll from the Category 4 storm stands at 546, according to the government. The UN says 1.4 million Haitians need help,out of 2.1 million affected by the hurricane. HOPE is coordinating its operations based on the recommendations of the Ministry of Health which is closely monitoring all regions affected by the storm.
Since the 2010 earthquake, Project HOPE has sent medical volunteers to train and assist local health care professionals in areas affected by cholera. The NGO provided health care to more than 1,000 Haitians in the aftermath of the disaster and distributed more than $60 million of donated medicines and supplies.
