Medications and supplies shipped this week included treatments for chronic conditions, mental health, pain relief, and surgical care.

Responding to Floods In Alaska, Post-Typhoon

In response to major flooding in areas of western Alaska, Direct Relief has been shipping medical aid to the state this week to support evacuees and others impacted by the storms. Direct Relief provided field medic packs and personal care items for displaced people to the Alaska Native Heritage Center, or ANHC, located in Anchorage.

A part of a statewide coalition of organizations, ANHC is working to coordinate relief provisions to directly impacted individuals. The organization is coordinating material aid to areas of greatest need, providing financial assistance to displaced families, and coordinating transportation of supplies to Southwest Alaska. ANHC will also receive $50,000 to support emergency response costs.

Direct Relief has provided more than $5 million in medical and financial support to organizations across the state since 2008, and will continue to respond to needs arising from the recent floods.

Medical Deliveries Support Critical Health Services in South Sudan

Medical aid from Direct Relief is being used to provide health services in South Sudan via the non-profit, the MAMA Project. The group and other in-country partners distributed donated medicines and medical supplies to six primary health care units and Mother Teresa Hospital in Twic and Gogrial West counties of Warrap State. The deliveries, coordinated with local health authorities, restored essential care in communities that had gone months without medical supplies. 

The supplies enabled medical teams to resume treatment for a wide range of preventable and infectious diseases and respond to trauma and emergency cases. Additional donations, including surgical tools and emergency medical backpacks, strengthened clinical capacity at Mother Teresa Hospital, while personal care items distributed to women and girls helped address critical health and hygiene needs among displaced populations.

Local health workers reported sharp improvements in service delivery following the arrival of the medications, which filled significant gaps left by delayed public supply chains.  

Dr. Bith Kondok, an anesthetist at Mother Teresa Hospital, noted that gaps in medication supplies made the Direct Relief-supported deliveries “critical to sustaining lifesaving treatment” for people already living in South Sudan and displaced people arriving from other countries. 

Direct Relief remains committed to supporting frontline health services in Warrap State and expanding access to essential medicines in areas facing severe humanitarian strain. 

Emergency Medical Aid Delivered After Severe Flooding in Mexico

This past month, severe flooding triggered by Tropical Storms Priscilla, Raymond, and Gerry, combined with weeks of heavy monsoon rains, has devastated large areas of central Mexico. More than 200,000 people have been displaced, and many communities remain isolated due to collapsed bridges and landslides. With health services disrupted, local authorities report growing humanitarian needs, particularly among communities in temporary shelters and rural areas now difficult to reach by ground. 

In response, Direct Relief has mobilized emergency medical support to restore access to care, prioritizing treatment for respiratory infections, injuries, waterborne illnesses, and chronic disease disruptions such as diabetes and hypertension.  

To date, Direct Relief has delivered over $90,000 in medical aid, including essential medicines and field medic packs for triage and trauma care. Direct Relief has also provided $25,000 in emergency grant funding to strengthen local medical outreach and support partner response operations.

Additional assistance is underway in coordination with Mexico’s Secretariat of National Defense (SEDENA), the Guerrero Ministry of Health Urgent Care Unit, and Medical IMPACT as evolving health needs continue to emerge. 

Operational Snapshot

UNITED STATES

Direct Relief delivered 755 shipments containing 4 million doses of medication this past week to organizations, including the following:

AROUND THE WORLD

Globally, Direct Relief shipped over 24.8 million defined daily doses of medication, totaling 111,203 lbs., to countries including the following:

YEAR-TO-DATE

Since January 1, 2025, Direct Relief has delivered 23.5K shipments to 2,569 partner organizations in 54 U.S. states and territories and 86 countries. These shipments contained 266.2 million defined daily doses of medication, valued at $1.8 billion wholesale, totaling 3.4 million lbs.

IN THE NEWS

Direct Relief Mobilizes Ahead of Storm in Southern California | News Channel 3-12 

Mitski Surprise-Releases The Land: The Live Album | Pitchfork 

“La tormenta”, documental sobre la recuperación de Puerto Rico tras el huracán María, se presentará en el Lusca Film Fest – El Nuevo Día 

Anthem Awards Community Voice 

SEEHN Secretariat Meets with Direct Relief Representatives to Explore Regional Collaboration | SEEHN 

FedEx Helps Direct Relief Sustain Response to Landslides in Rural India 

The post Medical Support Departs for Alaska, Mexico Flood Response Efforts appeared first on Direct Relief.

Medications and supplies shipped this week included treatments for chronic health conditions and mental health, as well as emergency response support.

Infants in Lebanon Breathe Easier with Respiratory Medicines

A critical medication for infants who need respiratory support has arrived at 10 hospitals in Lebanon. Nonprofit Anera has delivered Beractant-Survanta, a critical lung surfactant for premature infants born before 34 weeks, to the NICUs of 10 public hospitals across the country.  

The medication, donated by Direct Relief, helps babies born prematurely to breathe until their lungs are strong enough to do it on their own. The donation is the most recent shipment of this life-saving medicine, covering the national need for five months and estimated to save the lives of 150 newborns, increasing survival rates by at least 45% compared to similar treatments, according to Anera. 

Direct Relief has provided more than $261 million in medical support to Lebanon since 2009.

Medication Hub in Honduras Gets Aid the Last Mile

This week, the Ruth Paz Foundation in Honduras highlighted ongoing activity at the medical warehouse and distribution center in San Pedro Sula, where medicines and health supplies are continuing to move through the facility to reach hospitals and clinics across the country.

The distribution center, developed with funding and support from Direct Relief and inaugurated in April 2024, has strengthened Honduras’s medical supply chain by improving storage capacity and inventory management. With the facility integrated into regular operations, Ruth Paz is able to manage larger shipments and ensure a steady flow of essential medicines to patients who face barriers to care.

The site also serves as a key resource during emergencies, helping local healthcare providers respond more quickly to hurricanes, disease outbreaks, and other crises.

Direct Relief has partnered with the Ruth Paz Foundation for more than a decade, providing over $34 million in medical material aid.

Tropical Storm Jerry Churns Through Atlantic

Direct Relief is monitoring Tropical Storm Jerry as warnings remain in effect across parts of the Eastern Caribbean. While the storm is not currently forecast to make landfall, heavy rain and storm surge are expected in the region.

Direct Relief has coordinated with regional partner the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and remains ready to support. Emergency resources already prepositioned in the region include three Hurricane Preparedness Packs and 54 emergency medical backpacks for rapid deployment. Recent resilience investments through Direct Relief’s $3 million grant to OECS have also strengthened medical infrastructure and emergency readiness across the region.

Direct Relief Equips Search and Rescue Organization with New Vehicle

With support from Direct Relief, Ventura County East Valley Search and Rescue has enhanced its emergency response capacity with a new 4×4 rescue vehicle. The vehicle was funded through Direct Relief’s Search and Rescue Fund, which provides equipment and operational support to volunteer rescue teams responding to emergencies and disasters.

The new vehicle is currently in active use for search and rescue missions in remote or difficult terrain, and evacuations of residents who cannot safely leave on their own. The vehicle also supports field logistics, such as transporting water, equipment, and medical supplies.

In addition to vehicle funding, Direct Relief provided emergency operating funds during the recent Los Angeles wildfires to support the team’s mutual aid deployments.

Operational Snapshot

UNITED STATES

Direct Relief delivered 444 shipments containing 1.8 million doses of medication this past week to organizations, including the following:

AROUND THE WORLD

Globally, Direct Relief shipped over 8.8 million defined daily doses of medication, totaling 68,909 lbs., to countries including the following:

YEAR-TO-DATE

Since January 1, 2025, Direct Relief has delivered 22.7K shipments to 2,550 partner organizations in 54 U.S. states and territories and 86 countries. These shipments contained 241.3 million defined daily doses of medication, valued at $1.6 billion wholesale, totaling 3.3 million lbs.

The post Helping Infants Breathe in Lebanon, Distributing Medicines in Honduras, and More appeared first on Direct Relief.

Medications and supplies shipped this week included cancer treatments, rare disease therapies, diabetes management medications, and more.

Medications Support Essential Health Services in Georgia, South Africa

Medicines, over-the-counter items, and other requested medical support arrived this week in Atlanta, Georgia, to support critical screening and health services.

SisterLove Inc. is an Atlanta-based organization founded in 1989 in response to a lack of attention and resources for Black women impacted by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The organization provides comprehensive sexual health services, including free HIV/STI screenings and care support, across Atlanta. The organization also operates SisterLove International, based in Johannesburg, South Africa, which is focused on HIV prevention and treatment as well as reproductive health.

Direct Relief has provided more than $245,000 in medical support to the organization, including medications for HIV/AIDS treatments, contraceptives, and essential medicines, as well as a grant through Direct Relief’s Fund for Health Equity to support a mobile bus that provides health services in the community.

Strengthening Cold Chain Capacity in Colombia

In June, Direct Relief expanded cold chain capacity to support Colombia’s efforts to address yellow fever in the country. In coordination with the Pan American Health Organization, Direct Relief provided 10 ultracold portable freezers to support testing efforts.

The country has recorded an increase in yellow fever in 2025, as well as rising case numbers of dengue fever. Transporting samples from rural areas of Colombia to testing facilities in urban areas proved challenging, with samples often becoming unusable during the long journey.

Direct Relief sent 10 ultra-cold freezers to Colombia to ensure that samples remained viable for testing, which play a crucial role in enabling healthcare workers to identify and treat patients before outbreaks escalate. Transportation of the freezers was provided by FedEx.

Operational Snapshot

UNITED STATES

Direct Relief 257 shipments departed containing 436,423 doses of medication during the past week to organizations, including the following:

Around the World

Globally, Direct Relief shipped over 2.0 million defined daily doses of medication, totaling 30,954 lbs., to countries including the following:

YEAR-TO-DATE

Since January 1, 2025, Direct Relief has delivered 19.9K shipments to 2,400 partner organizations in 54 U.S. states and territories and 86 countries. These shipments included 189.4 million defined daily doses of medication, valued at $1.4 billion wholesale, totaling 2.9 million lbs.

In the News

How Direct Relief and FedEx Are Helping Fight Disease Outbreaks in Colombia – FedEx

20 Years After Hurricane Katrina: What Humanitarian Organizations Learned from the Historic Storm – Fox Weather

Equipping Midwives for Success and Transforming Maternal Health in Nigeria – Angels in Medicine

The post Medical Support Departs for 15 Countries appeared first on Direct Relief.

Medications and supplies shipped this week included rare disease therapies, cancer therapies, insulin, and more.

MPOX Response Continues in Congo

As mpox cases continue to climb in Africa, educational efforts to curb the disease are taking place in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Direct Relief recently awarded a grant of $50,000 to the nonprofit Jericho Road for mpox response, and prevention and treatment programs that are taking place in the three IDP (internally displaced people) camps near their facility in the Democratic Republic of Congo, or DRC.

The Jericho Road Wellness Center is based in Goma, DRC, near three large IDP camps in North Kivu, and the spread of mpox in these camps was noted as an area of concern by Africa CDC. The province of North Kivu is home to over 2.5 million internally displaced people, and conflict and insecurity throughout the region have caused the additional displacement of over 500,000 people in North Kivu over the last year, which has played a factor in the recent mpox outbreak.

Jericho Road held mpox awareness and preventative health training sessions for community facilitators from camps where thousands of displaced people are living. The trainings covered hand hygiene, respiratory hygiene, transmission of contagious diseases, and more. The facilitators will be training those in their communities about infection control and protection and prevention.

Direct Relief has worked with Jericho Road during previous outbreaks, including during the 2019 Ebola outbreak in eastern DRC. Direct Relief and Jericho Road worked to deliver PPE to the North Kivu provincial Department of Health, and the organizations are exploring the same approach as North Kivu is experiencing some of the highest rates of mpox in Africa.

Cancer Therapies Arrive in Gaza

Cancer therapies and essential medicines arrived recently at the Cancer Center at European Gaza Hospital to support treatment of people living with cancer.

The cancer center is a vital lifeline to care for those needing care, and seven pallets of requested medications were purchased locally by Anera in the West Bank, with $250,000 in financial support from Direct Relief. The local purchase of the medications allowed for the treatments to be swiftly delivered to the hospital.

Operational Snapshot

UNITED STATES

Direct Relief delivered 586 shipments containing 2 million doses of medication during the past month to organizations, including the following:

Around the World

Globally, Direct Relief shipped over 1 million defined daily doses of medication totaling 13,673 lbs., to countries including the following:

YEAR TO DATE

Since January 1, 2024, Direct Relief has delivered 24.2K shipments to 2,419 partner organizations in 54 U.S. states and territories and 89 countries. These shipments contained 396.6M defined daily doses of medication valued at $1.6B (wholesale) and totaled 5.0M lbs.

in the news

Reflecting on 24 Years of Crisis Care at Direct Relief – Santa Barbara Independent

Celebrating the Relief Chief – The Montecito Journal

Direct Relief Secures Spot as the Fifth Largest U.S. Charity, Forbes Reports – Edhat

The post Medical Aid Reaches 16 Countries, 45 U.S. States appeared first on Direct Relief.

The latest 4.5-ton shipment of requested medical aid, including IV fluids, wound care products, personal protective equipment, anti-infective agents, and thermometers, arrived in Gaza on May 26 through the Kerem Shalom crossing between northern Gaza and southern Israel. 

Anera, a key regional partner of Direct Relief, received the supplies, some of which are used by its own mobile medical unit that provides primary care services directly and the remainder being distributed to healthcare professionals in Gaza caring for people in dire need.

This week’s delivery follows a large Direct Relief shipment of prenatal vitamins, breast pumps for nursing, and personal care items such as feminine hygiene products for around 50,000 people in Gaza displaced from their homes. The personal care items were kitted at Direct Relief’s Santa Barbara headquarters by local volunteers over several days.

These supplies, coupled with financial assistance from Direct Relief, have supported a series of Anera-operated mobile clinics throughout Gaza that provide comprehensive services—including primary, maternal, pediatric, and mental health care—to as many as 1,000 people per day in Deir al-Balah and Rafah.

Over the past 8 months, Direct Relief has delivered into Gaza approximately 70 tons of medical aid, valued at more than $26 million (wholesale), including cancer treatment therapies, diabetes medications and supplies, cardiac medications, syringes, sutures and wound care items, water purification tablets, oral rehydration salts, and more.  

Direct Relief, an apolitical, non-sectarian, and nongovernmental humanitarian aid organization, is committed to responding to ongoing health needs and requests for support across the region.

Additional medical essentials have been delivered to and being staged in Jordan, with more en route. Deliveries from Jordan into Gaza will be made as the shifting security and logistics channels permit.

All Direct Relief shipments to Gaza and elsewhere in the region are the result of extensive coordination with various national governments, international agencies, and on-the-ground organizations, and will continue to be delivered in accordance with U.S. sanctions laws and necessary approvals from Israeli, Egyptian, Jordanian, and other relevant authorities. 

The post Direct Relief Delivers Humanitarian Aid into Gaza  appeared first on Direct Relief.

However, with Israel’s announcement today permitting humanitarian aid to flow from Egypt into Gaza, Direct Relief is actively working to resume medical aid shipments in coordination with global agencies, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and in accordance with U.S. sanctions and Israeli authorities’ approval.

Moreover, Direct Relief continues to support its longstanding regional partners, including Anera, an international nonprofit registered in both the U.S. and Israel, which has a long record of providing humanitarian assistance in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, and Lebanon.

Direct Relief has nine medical aid consignments prepared and ready to ship via air from its medical distribution facility to Gaza and the West Bank, which Anera requested prior to the terror attack last week by Hamas. Packed with essential medications, including chronic disease drugs, these shipments were placed on hold, pending confirmation of their proper storage, safe transit, and pre-arranged clearances with Israeli and other relevant authorities.

Direct Relief has also approved a $100K emergency grant to help Anera evacuate its Gaza staff and support their ongoing efforts to assist civilians in Gaza amid a pressing and rapidly unfolding humanitarian situation.

This follows Direct Relief’s commitment of $1 million in financial assistance to Israel in response to last week’s terror attack by Hamas.

The following five Israeli organizations will each receive a $200K grant for their efforts to serve Israel’s diverse population:

• Joint Distribution Committee (JDC): A century-old establishment, JDC is known for its global disaster responses. It aims to support hospitals in Israel to deal with the ongoing crisis.
• Magen David Adom (MDA): Founded in 1930, MDA serves as Israel’s principal organization for disaster relief, blood services, and ambulance transportation.
• NATAL: With over two decades in trauma treatment, NATAL provides invaluable support to those affected by traumatic incidents.
• United Hatzalah: Israel’s largest volunteer organization, United Hatzalah, offers quick emergency medical services nationwide. 
• ZAKA: Recognized by the UN, ZAKA Search and Rescue provides swift assistance during mass casualty situations globally and has paramedics ready throughout Israel.

The post Emergency Update: Humanitarian Response to Israel-Hamas War  appeared first on Direct Relief.

The shipments contained 1.7 million defined daily doses of medication, including antibiotics, surgical supplies, personal care products, and more.

Supporting Rehabilitation in Ukraine

This week, Direct Relief sponsored the First National Rehabilitation Conference at the Unbroken Ukraine Rehabilitation Center in Lviv, Ukraine where it was announced that the organization will be investing an additional $10 million towards rehabilitation efforts for those injured in the conflict.

Direct Relief’s President and CEO, Thomas Tighe, attended the conference and also met with Ukraine’s Health Minister, Viktor Liashko, in Kyiv to discuss emerging needs, strengthen cooperation and mobilize additional humanitarian aid.

Read more about the recent announcement here.

Hemophilia Treatment in Lebanon

Recently, in coordination with local NGO, Anera, Direct Relief delivered 2,100 vials of hemophilia treatment to Lebanon, enough for 350 patients to receive treatment for the next six months.

“In Lebanon, hemophiliacs have confronted new challenges to managing their conditions in recent years. The medical and pharmaceutical sectors have been badly shaken by the nation’s economic collapse. The crisis has affected access to essential medications for patients with chronic conditions, affecting all ages and communities,” states Anera’s latest insight on the situation in Lebanon.

Read more about this donation here.

Material aid for Ukraine

Since Feb. 24, 2022, Direct Relief has provided medical aid to Ukraine weighing more than 2.6 million pounds, or 1,300 tons, with more on the way.

OPERATIONAL SNAPSHOT

WORLDWIDE

This week, Direct Relief shipped 1.3 million defined daily doses of medication outside the U.S.

Countries that received medical aid over the past week included:

• Ukraine
• Vietnam
• Lebanon
• Dominican Republic
• Nigeria
• Bahamas
• Turkey
• Haiti

UNITED STATES

Direct Relief delivered 417 shipments containing over five tons of medications over the past week to organizations, including the following:

• Open Door Health Center, Florida
• Agape Clinic, Texas
• Tender Care Community Clinic Inc., California
• HealthNet of Rock County, Inc., Wisconsin
• NC MedAssist, North Carolina
• Family Health Services, Idaho
• Guadalupe Clinic, Kansas
• Community Health of East Tennessee, Inc., Tennessee
• Clearwater Free Clinic, Florida
• Scarsdale Family Health Center, Texas

YEAR-TO-DATE (GLOBAL)

Since Jan. 1, 2023, Direct Relief has delivered 4,708 shipments to 1,345 healthcare providers in 53 U.S. states and territories and 54 countries.

These shipments contained 169.3 million defined daily doses of medication valued at $510.6 million (wholesale), totaling 2.4 million lbs.

In The News

U.S. Humanitarian Organization to Provide Ukraine with $10M for Rehabilitation Development – Ukrinform: “According to Tighe, Direct Relief will continue to provide support to Ukraine as long as it takes. It is also planned to allocate an additional $10 million dollars for the development of rehabilitation assistance.”

“Dobrobut” Continues Program of Free Transfer of Medicines for Cancer Patients – Ukraine Open for Business: “Annually experts of “Dobrobut” carry out more than 7000 operations. The network has over 2,800 employees. Collaborates with a number of international charities Direct Relief, Children of War Foundation, International Medical Corps and the University of Miami Global Institute, as well as the Dobrobut Foundation, a charitable foundation founded by the clinic.”

Unbroken rehabilitation center opens on basis of reconstructed polyclinic building in Lviv – Interfax-Ukraine: “The project was implemented by the Ministry of Health on the basis of the First Medical Association of Lviv. The equipment for the halls was provided by the Direct Relief international foundation and the Swiss Embassy in Ukraine.”

The post Bolstering Support in Ukraine, Providing Aid in Lebanon appeared first on Direct Relief.

Now, Direct Relief is partnering with Anera to fund solar power systems for four healthcare centers in Lebanon. As Direct Relief’s ongoing work installing solar and backup battery systems in locations like the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Louisiana, and California shows, resilient power is an important tool in supporting the healthcare needs of vulnerable people as the effects of climate change intensify.

On the ground, Anera’s analysis of the impact of Direct Relief’s project reveals that impactful results are already being achieved. The project’s four clinics have reported 32% increases in patient capacity, major increases in medicine procurement and operating hours, and large decreases in electricity fees. Solar panels, inverters, and backup batteries ensure cold chain storage for vaccines and insulin runs uninterrupted, and children are receiving immunizations on schedule.

Lina Atat, Anera Lebanon’s Medical Donation Program Manager & Chief Pharmacist overseeing the solar project, described the project as “timely, impressive, and impactful.” Since March, Anera has been working to bring solar installations to over 15 locations. These installations address Lebanese health centers’ reliance on costly and inefficient fuel generators, which many centers use due to the country’s faltering electricity grid. That grid has been significantly burdened in recent years by Lebanon’s economic crisis and deteriorating infrastructure.

Direct Relief’s support will ensure that three healthcare centers in Akkar, northern Lebanon, and one center in Saida in the south can provide uninterrupted access to medical services.

Consistent Power Keeps Doors Open for Patients

Using clean, renewable solar energy to power basic lighting as well as electronic laboratory and medical equipment, the project addresses a dire need for resilient power. These solar arrays will impact close to 100,000 people who have been affected by ongoing electricity shortages, diminishing fuel supplies, and rising energy costs. Akkar is one of Lebanon’s most underserved areas, with the country’s second-highest percentage of Syrian refugees, who face specific healthcare and quality of life challenges exacerbated by the impacts of climate change.

Refugees, and those who live in rural areas, are most heavily affected by the deteriorating standards of living in Lebanon. While in Beirut and other central areas there is greater access to more healthcare facilities with specialized services, accessing these services in rural areas is more complicated. High fuel costs and transportation challenges for refugees, who are often confined to specific areas, severely limit access to healthcare.

Syrian and Palestinian refugees as well as other vulnerable populations also experience disproportionate economic burdens affecting access to food, water, electricity, medication, and even education. Government subsidies for medications are not widespread, and refugees also have to pay to enroll their children in schools, where Lebanese citizens are prioritized.

In addition, refugees face security challenges and discrimination. Most municipalities lack the resources to fund personnel training and to provide police officers, and violence against refugees is common. While Atat reported that Anera has received requests to address this problem by helping light streets that refugees frequently utilize in the evenings, there are no available funds to undertake such measures. Where individualized solutions are required, partisanship and indifference often thwart efforts.

Serving Those in Need

That’s why specific interventions like Direct Relief’s are so important. Uninterrupted access to medical care improves all populations’ quality of life. Sustainable electricity generation also helps address the root causes of extreme weather, which disproportionately impacts the most vulnerable. Meanwhile, resilient power enables health centers to maintain medicines and vaccines requiring temperature-controlled storage, utilize electronic medical records, and run vital equipment.

Further increasing self-sustainability in the region, each medical center that receives a solar system will take ownership of that system after installation. Centers will receive training and advisement from Anera consultants. Managing solar operations and maintenance responsibilities, recipient clinics will become models for similar partnerships in the future.

Anera’s analysis of the impact of Direct Relief’s project estimates that in centers where systems are installed, there will be a significant increase in healthcare availability and operational hours. According to Atat, the implementation and use of solar power are expected to bridge the gap between supply and demand in the national grid.

Lebanon has been rationing power since the Lebanon War in 2006, mainly due to the resulting financial crisis and depletion of Central Bank reserves to support and subsidize electricity. Generation hours have decreased massively, from about 18 hours per day initially down to one to two hours of electricity per day—and sometimes none in many places. Much of the health sector relies on private generators rather than public utilities because there is simply no electricity. Due to high demand and need, renewable power sources such as wind and solar are on the rise across the health, education, residential, and community services sectors.

Yet there have been significant cost increases in materials such as solar panel components, inverters, and batteries. These increases coincide with the devastating devaluation of the Lebanese lira, which reached an all-time low in 2022 after Lebanon’s central bank cut subsidies for fuel and other commodities. This came after Lebanon witnessed an economic crisis at the end of 2019, followed closely by Covid-19 and the Beirut blast in August 2020.

Direct Relief’s aid couldn’t have come at a better time. Not only does it address worsening economic conditions, but it also speaks directly to the causes and effects of extreme weather. “Conversations about climate change are becoming increasingly vocal,” Atat told Direct Relief, and “attention is turning to green power.”

In Lebanon, this often means solar. Lebanon has about 300 sunny days per year, with eight to nine hours of sunshine per day. “So a solar project in Lebanon is a good investment,” Atat said. Facilities gain significant financial relief after the installation of renewable solar power systems.

A reliance on sustainable energy supplies brings important results: increases in the number of patients served, increases in service offerings, and continuity of care. In the past, patients sometimes suffered when there was limited electricity and limited capacity. Generators could only supply centers with some services, and many machines were out of use. Staff had to reschedule patient visits, especially at centers offering disability and behavioral health support. Now, things are changing.

Beyond the walls of individual medical centers, renewables-based interventions are generating beneficial indirect effects as well. On the international stage, UN agencies are undertaking assessments of renewable energy projects. Atat describes how recently, the World Health Organization supported a solar system bid at another center that would provide for cold chain storage. “Attention [to resilient power systems] is now at a national level and on the rise,” Atat said, and that she’s heartened by the progress renewable energy sources are making in the face of climate change.

For Atat, the project is so far a “very good investment to the centers and the health sector as a whole as well as to the safe provision of services.” Enabling facilities to operate independently, without relying on electricity and fuel providers, supports greater resiliency—a key element to keeping these centers going as they continue critical work supporting Syrian and Palestinian refugees and other marginalized populations.

In addition to the $50,000 grant for resilient power at health facilities in Lebanon, Direct Relief has sent more than 170 shipments totaling $181.8M in medical aid to Anera since 2009, including 80 shipments valued at $69.3M specifically to Anera Lebanon.

Heath Pennington (they/them/theirs) is a communications fellow for Direct Relief in partnership with the UCSB Interdisciplinary Humanities Center’s Public Humanities Graduate Fellows Program.

The post Direct Relief-Funded Solar Power Project Serves Refugees in Lebanon appeared first on Direct Relief.

To help ease the burden, Direct Relief has provided a new medical aid shipment of molnupiravir for Gaza, which Anera has delivered to Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s principal medical center. Molnupiravir is used to treat mild to moderate cases of Covid-19 in patients who are at risk for developing a more serious illness.

The treatment helps relieve symptoms and help prevent fatalities. The shipment included 39,920 capsules, which the Ministry of Health needs for more developed protocols of antiviral drugs to combat Covid-19.

Dr. Kifah Toman is the director of the central pharmaceuticals department at the Ministry of Health. “We’re relieved and happy that the drug was delivered to Shifa Hospital and to pulmonologists,” he said. The medicines are also available to other physicians as an optional treatment for Covid-19.

The Gaza physician said the dispensing of the drug depends on the age of the patient and the severity of the infection. The chronic shortage of medicines in Gaza is a major challenge for health providers.

Dr. Toman stressed the importance of continuing to supply vital medicines to Gaza hospitals, especially those dealing with epidemics like Covid-19. He added that treating some of the hospital’s patients requires medications often in short supply, including vitamins and intravenous medicines for nutrition.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published by Anera here. Direct Relief’s donation of molnupiravir to Anera was made possible via a contribution from Merck & Co. Since January 1, 2022, Direct Relief has provided Anera with nearly 9 million doses of medication totaling more than 75 tons to support their humanitarian efforts in Gaza and throughout the region.

The post New Supply of Covid-19 Therapies Arrives in Gaza appeared first on Direct Relief.

“Medical shortages are all too common during Lebanon’s economic crisis,” explained Hazem Assi, a Hematology and Medical Oncology department physician at the American University of Beirut Medical Center, or AUBMC.

“Despite the efforts of the health ministry, medications cannot be purchased in the needed quantities because of soaring prices.”

In practical terms, he said cancer patients might have to skip treatment for one or two months due to the unavailability of the medicine.

“This has severe effects on the patient’s health,” he said, “and can be life-threatening because cancer treatment depends on consistency, sometimes for long periods.”

Lebanon’s economic collapse has had a far-reaching impact on the country’s health sector. Cancer treatment is no exception. Eighty percent of Lebanon’s medicines and supplies are imported, but suppliers no longer have enough foreign currency to buy what they need. Pharmacies, hospitals and clinics have reported a shortage of cancer medications. Some patients are getting only intermittent treatments. Others have no access to treatment at all.
“Cancer treatment is very delicate and alternative treatments are not easy to find,” explained AUBMC chief nurse Wafaa Skaff. “The patient’s biggest battle against cancer is time. That is why it is crucial to secure medicines and maintain a consistent timeline for treatment.”

Anera has distributed a substantial supply of anti-cancer and insulin medications from Direct Relief, including a new biological therapy donated to Direct Relief by Bristol Myers Squibb for cancers like melanoma and leukemia.

Assi said it is painful to watch his patients suffer needlessly. “There were two cancer cases I oversaw where the patients were unable to purchase certain medications and had to discontinue treatment. Their health deteriorated rapidly and led to their death, something that was painful for the families, but also for the staff involved in their care.”

He said the donated medicines will help save or extend the lives of cancer patients and reduce the fear of living with uncertain, irregular treatment.

“Chemo costs me $400 USD on the black market, but with the depreciation of the currency and my reduced income, it is beyond my reach,” said 70-year-old Mousa, who is benefitting from the donated medicines. The cancer patient has tried to stay positive, but he knew his survival depended on the availability of cancer medication, which the government had been unable to secure.

Chemotherapy treatment is meant to be administered on a regular schedule but has often been disrupted as the economic crisis deepens.

Assi said the shortage of medications extends beyond the more expensive pharmaceuticals. “It is also hard to find affordable medications dubbed essential by the WHO which are needed for treatment.”

Mousa knows that from personal experience. “Medication for my immunity has been hard to find and, despite my insurance, the government is unable to supply my anti-cancer medicines. I’ve had to postpone treatment sessions due to unavailability. Isn’t it enough that the crisis has taken away our security, basic needs, livelihoods, and public services, and now it’s affecting our health, too?”

“I’ve had to postpone treatment sessions due to unavailability.”

The crisis also has affected the staff caring for cancer patients. Skaff explained that “The multiple crises we experienced in the past couple of years have been overwhelming for the staff and patients on personal and professional levels. This adds to the pressure and stress of dealing with both their personal concerns and their patients.”

The Lebanese Ministry of Health had provided cancer medication at affordable rates, but now the medicines are not even available. Assi said donations from Anera are key to continuing health services since the government is unable to adequately provide what is needed.

“AUBMC was among the leading cancer treatment centers and now we depend on donations to continue our services. We couldn’t do this without Anera’s help.”

The post Donated Cancer Medicines Help Save Lives in Lebanon appeared first on Direct Relief.

Giving birth is no easy task wherever you may live. But today, in Lebanon, pregnancy and birthing have become even more challenging. The cost of healthcare for women, especially during pregnancy and after childbirth, is almost insurmountable in Lebanon’s deteriorating economy. The price of healthy food and medicine has skyrocketed. Health services also are negatively impacted by the crisis. Anera’s Lebanon office continually receives appeals and alerts from partner institutions, healthcare centers and hospitals regarding shortages in OB-GYN equipment, supplies and treatments.

Once again, Anera and its partner, Direct Relief, have stepped up to the challenge. Direct Relief has sent a much-needed shipment of midwife kits to Lebanon, which Anera is distributing. The kits contain everything to help safely deliver babies in almost any environment. Each kit contains the 59 essential items a midwife needs to perform 50 facility-based safe births. They also contain essential instruments, diagnostic equipment, and supplies like gloves and other consumables needed by midwives to support safe birth.

Maryam Abdallah Khalil is a midwife at the Mother and Child Care Association Hospital. She sees her role as a midwife as two-fold: first, to raise awareness about reproductive health and childbirth and second, to assist mothers throughout the birthing process. “Direct Relief’s midwife kits provided our hospital with the kinds of supplies that no maternity ward should run out of. And, because we don’t have to purchase them, we can pass along the savings to new parents,” she said.

Maryam explained that a percentage of women living in remote areas rely on home birth, sometimes because of their tradition and sometimes because they cannot afford to go to a hospital. So a midwife plays a key role. “These cases are definitely on the increase because of the terrible financial situation in Lebanon. Providing safe and affordable care for pregnant women is essential.” Midwives, Maryam said, are integral to ensuring safe childbirth. And, that is where Direct Relief and Anera play a critical role.

“The 2021 State of the World’s Midwifery Report indicates that midwives can provide up to 90% of essential maternal and reproductive health interventions, including in emergency situations,” said Paulina Ospina, Associate Director of Maternal & Child Health Programs at Direct Relief. “For this reason, we are committed to supporting midwives with the supplies and equipment they need.”

Direct Relief partnered with Anera in Lebanon to provide enough midwife kits to facilitate 1,250 safe births this year alone. Anera’s medical donations team delivered the kits to health care providers across Lebanon, including five Palestine Red Crescent (PRCS) hospitals, the Mother and Child Welfare Associations and its maternity clinic and the Lebanese Association for Early Child Development. Midwives work out of these facilities, and they use the kits, along with doctors and nurses.

The Child and Mother Welfare Association is a charity organization based in Beirut. Founded in 1944 by an all-female board, the association focuses on offering health, social, vocational and cultural services for families in need. Nada Rabeez directs the association’s hospital. She said the economic crisis has challenged how the hospital can provide quality care, especially during childbirth.

“We have gone back in time. We have an old school monitor for listening to the baby’s heartbeat that we use because births sometimes happen during electricity cuts and this device does not need electricity,” she said.

“In Lebanon over the past 20 to 30 years, home births have been limited to rare cases that occur in relatively remote villages,” Nada said. “But today, these cases are increasing due to the high cost of childbirth in hospitals. Supporting charitable hospitals like ours by providing medical supplies literally helps us save lives.”

With help from international organizations like Anera and Direct Relief, she said the hospital can better provide delivery services at minimal prices to encourage women to give birth in a healthy environment inside the hospital. “And, that can ensure the safety of both the mother and child.”

The post Ensuring Safe Childbirth in Lebanon appeared first on Direct Relief.

Finding helicopters wasn’t the problem; companies volunteered their services, said Dr. Aban Gautam, a physician and president of the aid organization Mountain Heart Nepal. And Mountain Heart Nepal’s staff provided in-flight medical support to gravely ill patients.

Instead, the problem was medical-grade oxygen.

“We were told to bring our own oxygen supply,” Gautam recalled. But medical-grade oxygen was scarce all over the country. “It was a very challenging time for us to refill just one cylinder…we had to wait in a very long queue” at a local oxygen plant.

Even medical support and in-flight oxygen weren’t enough. When a patient reached a hospital, there was no guarantee of enough oxygen to support them.

“We could not take any [more] patients because of oxygen shortages,” recalled Pramesh Koju, public health officer at Dhulikhel Hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital city.

Dhulikhel had onsite a pressure-swing absorption (PSA) oxygen plant. But it was operating far below capacity. “We cleaned all the filters, cleaned the room… but it couldn’t generate enough oxygen for demand,” said engineer Sanil Shrestha.

To care for patients in its 136 designated Covid-19 beds, Dhulikhel needed between 150 and 200 oxygen cylinders every 24 hours. Its PSA plant could only produce about 60.

Direct Relief to Boost Global Oxygen Supply Amid Covid-19-Caused Shortages with $5 Million Investment

By Talya Meyers | Direct Relief
JANUARY 20, 2022 5:08 PM

Shrestha would wait overnight at a local oxygen factory to secure enough oxygen to treat hospital patients to make up the difference.

Dan Hovey, Direct Relief’s emergency response director, hears similar stories every time a country experiences a Covid-19 surge, beginning with China.

“We learned that a spike in demand for oxygen was completely overwhelming the local supply. And we’ve seen that in every outbreak since then,” Hovey said.

global inequity

This isn’t a new problem. Even before the pandemic, a lack of oxygen was killing children with pneumonia and others who needed it, said Leith Greenslade, the coordinator of the public-private coalition Every Breath Counts – it numbers UN agencies, businesses, nonprofits, and academic institutions among its participants – and an expert on oxygen supply shortages.

“Oxygen was really rare in hospitals” in settings across sub-Saharan Africa and South America, Greenslade said.

In wealthier countries, where road systems are more reliable and commercial oxygen more available, hospitals are most likely to purchase oxygen from a medical distributor dispensing liquid or gas oxygen, explained Sarah Sceery, director of external relations at Build Health International, a nonprofit organization working to improve health care infrastructure in low-resource settings. The oxygen is delivered in large tanks and incorporated into a facility’s system in these cases.

“Oxygen is almost a no-brainer” in many wealthier countries,” Sceery said.

However, in low-resource settings, purchasing a large tank of oxygen isn’t always an option, whether because of poor-quality roads, seasonal conditions, or a lack of local suppliers, Sceery said. The global supply chain issues caused by the pandemic have only exacerbated the problem, especially in many low-income countries that rely exclusively on imported oxygen.

Instead, many hospitals rely on PSA plants, which separate oxygen from other gases onsite, said Eric Buckley, Build Health International’s director of oxygen engineering. But many such PSA plants are broken or not working at full capacity. They’re often donations from an external entity, but local staff are not provided with sufficient training to maintain the plant or troubleshoot problems.

Buckley emphasized that underfunded and overburdened hospital staff are not to blame for the situation.

“The bad guy here is not the facilities person in the hospital, who’s been given nothing more than a screwdriver and a roll of tape, and asked to maintain the PSA plant,” he said.

But there’s no question that the pandemic has severely worsened global oxygen shortages, even as it has drawn attention to the issue. And untold numbers of people have died – sometimes publicly, on the street – as a result.

“Oxygen is also needed for neonatal care, maternal care, surgical care,” Sceery said. “When [hospitals] become overrun with Covid and with Covid patients, it becomes even more disastrous.”

“We first started hearing about the vast quantities of oxygen” needed to care for severely ill Covid-19 patients, Greenslade recalled, “and we just knew it was going to be a horror story.”

Oxygen crisis

At the China Friendship Hospital in the Caribbean country of Dominica, Covid-19 cases stayed low until the summer of 2021. Then the delta variant surged, and case levels remained high, said Nicole Laville, the director of engineering services for the Dominica Hospitals Authority.

“What we found is that, since August, the demand for oxygen has gone up,” she said.

The hospital had a PSA plant, but it had been damaged by Hurricane Maria, the Category 5 storm that caused widespread damage to Dominica and Puerto Rico in 2017. “We’re kind of walking on glass with regards to this oxygen plant,” Laville said. “In an emergency situation, people need oxygen, so they had to run the plant, so it caused further damage to the plant.”

When Laville spoke to Direct Relief in late December, one particular patient was going through 10 cylinders of oxygen a day. The demand was so great that China Friendship Hospital could no longer afford to share with other hospitals in Dominica.

“A lot of those island nations have been in oxygen crisis, but they’re small and tend not to be able to get the attention of the large international agencies,” Greenslade said.

Addressing this oxygen crisis requires a multifaceted approach. Oxygen concentrators, which have received widespread media attention, have proven to play a valuable role in the fight against Covid-19, allowing patients to recuperate at home while opening up vital hospital beds for the sickest cases.

But they’re generally not suitable to treat the sickest patients. A typical concentrator might provide five liters of oxygen per minute, Greenslade said. A patient with a severe case of Covid-19 could require as much as 60 liters per minute.

A way forward

For Greenslade, oxygen is the missing link in the global response to Covid-19. “Early on in the pandemic, a wrong path was taken, and we’ve been on the wrong way ever since then.”

The problem is an over-reliance on vaccines to solve the problem. “They are amazing vaccines, but all the effort was put into bringing them to market quickly,” without taking vaccine uptake adequately into account, she said. “A lot of people would just decide, ‘We’re not going to take them and you just can’t make us.’”

In the meantime, Greenslade explained, “we didn’t focus enough on preventing deaths, on taking care of people who were getting sick.” That meant that the vital role oxygen plays in treating Covid-19 wasn’t emphasized enough.

Part of the solution is making sure that hospitals and health organizations have access to reliable sources of medical-grade oxygen. With this in mind, Direct Relief has already funded oxygen plants in several countries.

While a PSA plant is often the best solution, Hovey explained, an unreliable electrical grid and lack of access to spare parts make it the wrong solution in countries experiencing conflict, such as Syria. Instead, the funding will go toward a liquid oxygen filling station.

With funding from Direct Relief, Build Health International worked with Dhulikhel Hospital to figure out why their PSA plant wasn’t working well, diagnosed the problem, and got the plant running at full capacity.

For China Friendship Hospital, Build Health International recently traveled to the site to evaluate the plant and issued a full report within days.

“We need very nimble humanitarian agencies that can almost operate in a parallel universe” from that of governments and other official bodies, Greenslade said. With a government, she explained, an official report on a broken PSA plant might take four to six months – and more deaths.

“The advantage of a group like Direct Relief is lives saved,” she said.

Dan Hovey and Alycia Clark contributed reporting to this story.

Direct Relief has committed $5 million to the oxygen supply problem and is joining the Every Breath Counts coalition. The organization will work with the coalition and with Build Health International to build and restore PSA plants or other effective, resilient oxygen sources in countries such as Dominica, India, Madagascar, Nepal, and Syria. Direct Relief will also receive guidance on oxygen strategy and prioritization from the Society of Critical Care Medicine, which is the largest nonprofit medical organization devoted to critical care and has members in 100 countries.

The post Confronting the Global Oxygen Shortage and its Consequences appeared first on Direct Relief.

But the hospital doesn’t just care for the patients within its walls. It also provides ongoing chronic disease care to patients who rely on the hospital for their treatment.

“The majority of the patients who are treated here are of the medium and low economic class,” said Dr. Akram Echtay, a professor of medicine and head of the hospital’s endocrinology division. “Each month, they come here and they receive the medications they are in need of – if they are available, because sometimes they are not available.”

Before the economic crisis, Covid-19, and the 2020 Beirut port explosion rocked Lebanon, the country had an enviable health care system. But now, doctors and nurses, both highly in demand, are leaving the country. “We have world class doctors and nurses, and we are losing them,” said Dima Zayat, the deputy country director in Lebanon for the Middle East-based NGO Anera.

Hospitals and primary care centers were badly damaged by the Beirut blast, and had to undergo significant repairs. Covid-19 has overwhelmed hospitals – according to Lina Atat, a pharmacist and coordinator of medical donations for Anera, only 7% of the country’s ICU beds are available.

And medications – particularly those for chronic diseases like diabetes and hypertension – are harder to come by.

“For most chronic disease medicine, there is a waiting game,” said Zayat. “People who can buy the medicine are buying it in increased quantities because they’re afraid of the shortages.”

Zayat said that, when she recently needed a medication, she had to drive more than an hour outside Beirut to find it.

People who can afford it are buying the medications on the illegal market or asking friends to send it from other countries, according to Zayat. But as more and more of the country falls into poverty – currently more than half of Lebanon is considered below the poverty line, according to the UN – that means that relatively few people can afford these solutions.

“People are getting poorer by the minute,” Zayat said.

To allay shortages, Direct Relief, working with the company Eli Lilly, recently supplied 35,000 vials of insulin to Lebanon. The shipment arrived in the country in December. A new shipment, containing 55,000 vials, is on its way. 

In addition, 28,500 vials of insulin, donated by Novo Nordisk, recently arrived in Lebanon, as did a shipment of more than 12,000 tablets of diabetes medication provided by Merck KGaA. Since the August 4 explosion, Direct Relief has shipped $37.5 million worth of medical aid, and granted $550,000 out in financial support, including $80,000 to Rafik Hariri Hospital.

The insulin donations will reach hospitals (including Rafik Hariri University Hospital), pharmacies, and primary care centers, which care for low-income patients and which have seen increased numbers of people seeking their services, Zayat said.

“There’s an increased need to support primary care centers…because these are being used more,” she said. People who might previously have seen a private doctor will come to a health center because “they lost their jobs, they lost their insurance, they lost their social security.”

Not having access to insulin is dangerous, and Atat explained that some people have ended up in hospitals because of it. “If they do not take their medication, 100% they will end up in the hospital,” she said. At a moment when Lebanon’s hospitals have their hands full caring for Covid-19 patients, that’s especially dangerous.

But Atat explained that the donations of insulin from NGOs, including Direct Relief, have made a significant difference. “Given these donations, we expect that people should not suffer from not having insulin,” she said.

Echtay, too, said that donations have played an important role in allowing Rafik Hariri University Hospital to continue its community care.

“The donations that are given to the hospital…play a major role in supporting the hospital – to do and continue to do its job,” he said.

The post In Lebanon, Insulin and Other Chronic Disease Medications Are Hard to Come By appeared first on Direct Relief.

And throughout the night, patients poured into hospitals.

“We received hundreds of patients on the night of the explosion,” recalled Dr. Firass Abiad, a surgeon and CEO of Rafik Hariri University Hospital, the largest pubic hospital in Lebanon. “A lot of the hospitals used a lot of their medical supplies taking care of the patients that night,” depleting an already compromised supply.

Now, more than two months after the blast, Lebanon’s advanced health system, already weakened by economic collapse, is low on vital medications and supplies. Patients unable to afford health care are showing up at hospitals with unmanaged chronic health issues, “in very bad condition,” said Dima Zayat, the deputy country director in Lebanon for Anera, a Middle East-based NGO.

Mental health concerns are on the rise. Covid-19 cases have flared wildly, from fewer than 200 new cases daily before the blast to as many as 1,459 on October 8. ICUs are filled with sick patients fighting the virus, even as damaged hospitals mean fewer beds are available.

Some doctors and nurses are working in damaged facilities. Others are furloughed or quarantined, brought to a standstill by Covid-19’s rapid spread. Still others – many of them Lebanon’s best and brightest – are leaving the country altogether.

“The health system is under significant, significant pressure,” said Fadi El-Jardali, chair of health policy and management at the American University of Beirut. “It has been resilient thus far, but things are getting much, much more difficult than they were before.”

Urgent Support

Immediately after the blast, Direct Relief sent a 227-pallet shipment to Lebanon, containing a wide range of medicines and supplies, including PPE and Emergency Health Kits. Shipments since then have included much-needed medicines, such as insulin, tetanus vaccinations, oncology drugs, and Survanta, a lifesaving drug for babies experiencing respiratory distress.

To meet skyrocketing needs, Direct Relief has collected mental health medications for shipment and is preparing to provide ongoing support to Lebanon’s largest psychiatric center.

In total, Direct Relief has sent or is preparing $23 million in medication and supplies to Lebanon in the aftermath of the explosion.

In addition, through a $500,000 donation from Facebook, the organization has provided emergency operating grants to 5 different Lebanese health facilities to help them meet increasing expenses.

A Shortage of Supplies

Zayat explained that Lebanon’s economic crisis has made it more difficult for the country to import a range of medications and supplies, including medications for chronic diseases.

“Even if people have the money to buy the medicine, it is not available in the pharmacies…They are rationing the quantities that are given to patients,” she said. “For chronically ill people this is very stressing.”

Lebanon’s public health care system is relatively small compared to its private sector. But many Lebanese can no longer afford a private doctor, which places additional stress on an overstretched public sector, Dr. Abiad said. “We are seeing a larger number of those people who are coming more and more to the public sector because they cannot go to the private sector.”

And many are delaying care because they simply can’t afford to seek it out. “We are seeing people at a more advanced state of their disease,” he said. “It’s feeding into the escalation of the cost of health care, because of people don’t get the preventive medicine part…then what you see is more diseases requiring more intervention and requiring more management. It’s a vicious cycle.”

Both public hospitals and primary care facilities are feeling the squeeze. A center that used to see 100 patients in a day might now accept as many as 500, Zayat said.

Losing Health Care Workers

Although El-Jardali said that access to PPE has improved since the blast, “we’re not yet at a good stage.” In particular, he’s worried that more and more health care workers are coming down with Covid-19. “Either there is not enough PPE, or they are not being trained very well, or hospitals are not working hard to ensure good practices.”

And the pressure placed on health care workers to provide high-quality care for large numbers of patients is concerning. “More pressure, more burnt out, more dissatisfaction…quality of patient care and safety will suffer as a result,” he said.

Although doctors and nurses are primarily seen as heroes by the general public, frustrations over finances and the care available have even led to reports of violence directed toward health care workers, El-Jardali said.

“Obviously the situation is not as apocalyptic as it was on the day or the week of the blast. There’s still significant shortages. They’re exhausted…They’re working overtime. They’re working with few resources. Many of them are sick,” explained Josyann Abisaab, a Lebanon-born, New York-based emergency room doctor who co-founded the NGO Lebanon Needs.

And, several sources said, many of them are responding by leaving the country altogether. “We pride ourselves on having very well-trained doctors and nurses,” Dr. Abiad said. “It wasn’t difficult for them as the situation started worsening to make a living elsewhere.”

That has consequences for the quality of Lebanon’s medical system overall. “That unfortunately is going to become another hurdle,” Dr. Abiad said. “The very well-trained doctors and nurses, the leaders in the field, will go away.”

A Growing Need

Mental health issues are widespread, Zayat said, but meeting them comes with cultural challenges. “There is still some stigma against mental health,” particularly among Lebanon’s older adults, she said. “Even when they are suffering, they will not seek mental health services.”

But it’s not just older adults. Dr. Raya Saab, medical director of the Children’s Cancer Center at the American University of Beirut, said that she’s concerned for her patients as well. “For patients and parents of children with cancer, who were already stressed, these mental health issues are of high concern,” she said.

Dr. Abiad explained that stigma around mental health has meant there is less demand for it – which has made it, in turn, a historically underfunded area of mental health in Lebanon. “A lot of people consider mental health as kind of a taboo,” he said.

But even as the blast has led to a drastically increased need, he said, fewer health workers are available to meet it. Nurses who previously were assigned to mental health treatment programs have been “reallocated” to overstretched Covid-19 units.

“As a surgeon, I’ve been trained to manage physical wounds…Mental health wounds are much more difficult to see,” Dr. Abiad said. “After all that has happened, I think they have become easy to see.”

The post The Beirut Blast Left Lebanon’s Health System Badly Shaken appeared first on Direct Relief.

FedEx transported the supplies via a donated charter flight to help health facilities responding after a deadly explosion ripped through the city earlier this month, killing 178 people, injuring thousands and putting significant strain on the medical system.

The Direct Relief airlift was made possible through the FedEx Cares “Delivering for Good” initiative, where FedEx lends its global network and unparalleled logistics expertise to help organizations with mission-critical needs in times of disaster, as well as through partnerships with Anera and The American Task Force for Lebanon.

The medical resources contained in the airlift will enable hospitals, clinics, and primary care centers to replenish inventories of critically needed medicines and supplies were destroyed in the blast or depleted in the explosion’s wake.

Items include cardiovascular, diabetes, neurology, respiratory and ophthalmology medications, as well as roughly 200,000 N-95 masks and tens of thousands of exam gloves, protective coveralls, and wound care supplies.

California to Lebanon

FedEx picked up $11 million worth of medicines, medical supplies and personal protective equipment from Direct Relief headquarters in Santa Barbara, California, and trucked the load to Memphis.

Late Saturday, Aug. 22, FedEx loaded those supplies onto a FedEx Express Boeing 777 at the FedEx World Hub. The flight landed at noon in Luxembourg Sunday, Aug. 23, where FedEx worked with Cargolux, which also donated its services, to transport the supplies into Beirut.

“FedEx has catalyzed and made possible a huge boost of urgently needed assistance to people in Beirut by providing its world-class team, logistics expertise and aircraft,” said Direct Relief President and CEO Thomas Tighe. “Direct Relief and the many partners with which we’re working to help, including the American Task Force on Lebanon, are profoundly grateful for FedEx once again providing just an extraordinary example of leadership and action to assist people slammed by a humanitarian crisis.”

Arrival in Lebanon

The supplies arrived early Monday in Beirut with Direct Relief’s longtime partner in the region, Anera, for distribution to hospitals and clinics throughout the affected area.

Recipients were selected by Direct Relief for the critical functions they serve in responding to the explosion, and include Rafik Hariri University Hospital, the Lebanese American University Medical Center, American University of Beirut Hospital, Hotel Dieu de France.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Anera (@aneraorg)

Lebanon was experiencing a chronic lack of medicines and medical supplies prior to the explosion, and healthcare resources were being stretched by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The blast compounded the severe strain on the nation’s healthcare system.

Six major hospitals and 20 clinics suffered damage and, according to UNOCHA, the blast rendered half of all medical facilities within 9.3 miles either inoperable or partially operable.

“We’ve seen the devastation from the explosion and know people are still in desperate need of help. On behalf of our 500,000 FedEx team members, we are proud to be able to use our global network to provide these lifesaving resources,” said Richard Smith, executive vice president, Global Support, FedEx Express. “We are inspired by Direct Relief’s commitment to making a difference in the lives of others and we are honored to work alongside this incredible organization.”

The post Emergency Medical Airlift Arrives in Lebanon in Wake of Explosion appeared first on Direct Relief.

It also killed doctors, nurses, and patients in their hospitals. Destroyed vital medicines, vaccines, and personal protective equipment. Damaged primary health care centers. And placed tremendous strain on a health system already in crisis.

At a moment when first responders are still treating the wounded and finding shelter for the displaced, the long-term future of the country may not be top of mind.

But when it comes to Lebanon’s health care system and the health of the people who live there, the impacts will be profound and long-lasting.

“It’s impacted everything on a grand scale of unfathomable proportion,” said Dr. Josyann Abisaab, a New York City emergency room doctor originally from the country, and a co-founder of the NGO Lebanon Needs. “We are watching the total collapse of the health care system in Lebanon.”

“People were Literally Hungry”

Lebanon was already “a country where we have a predominance of the private sector in health,” explained Fadi El-Jardali, chair of Health Policy and Management at the American University of Beirut. “We have a poor public structure.”

Even without a strong public health presence, however, Lebanon still had a strong, well-educated medical workforce and state-of-the-art medical centers, El-Jardali said.

The country’s primary health centers, many of them privately run with aid from NGOs, provided everything from chronic disease treatment to antenatal care.

Then, Lebanon’s economic system collapsed, causing staggering inflation. “We lost about 80% of our income over the past few months because of the devaluation of the Lebanese pound,” El-Jardali said.

“There’s a huge concern that the country was already facing famine because of the economic collapse,” Dr. Abisaab said. “People were literally hungry. We’ve seen pictures of empty fridges, and people begging on the streets, which we had never seen in Lebanon before.”

Malnutrition is dangerous enough on its own. But in addition, said Dr. Jennifer Leaning, a professor of Global Health and Population at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, “over the months of economic decline, people have been too hungry and economically stressed even to pay the minimum fees…to go to the health center.”

Primary health care centers are seeing fewer people seek treatment for chronic disease or antenatal care, which means that worse outcomes will likely become more common, Dr. Leaning said. Even childhood vaccinations have declined, increasing the threat of infectious disease.

And the economic collapse compromised the quality of medical care in Lebanon. According to Dr. Leaning, electricity was sometimes only available for three or four hours a day. Minimal water was available at times.

Primary health centers “were already overstretched,” said Dima Zayat, deputy country director in Lebanon for the Middle East-based NGO Anera. “Increasing their capacity even more is impossible. They have reached their limit.”

Hospitals laid off hundreds of medical workers. Medicines and supplies like PPE were harder to come by. “Many doctors actually protested in front of hospitals, warning about the lack of lifesaving medicines and supplies,” Dr. Abisaab said.

“Already on Their Knees”

Covid-19, which first appeared in the country in February, has only made things worse.

At first, Dr. Abisaab recalled, there was “a fairly organized lockdown, and initially, there were only a few cases per day.”

But the country opened its borders in July, she said, and case levels shot up. As of August 10, there were 5,951 reported cases in the country, according to Dr. Leaning. Beirut was one of the hotspots.

Protective equipment was already in short supply for medical workers, Dr. Abisaab explained. “Then you had the pandemic…they were working on double time, many of them were on quarantine.”

At some primary health care centers, medical workers were going unpaid. “Many of the people who work in these public health centers have not been paid for a year and a half,” Dr. Leaning said. “They’re tightening their belt, they’re not eating as much, but they really care about the public health mission.”

The situation at hospitals wasn’t much better, according to Dr. Abisaab. “The hospitals were already on their knees even before Covid. Then Covid made it worse, and this explosion…was the final blow, the coup de grâce,” she said.

“The Seeds for This”

The explosion, piled on top of the existing tensions, “is a slow but severe disaster now culminating in an acute and horrible disaster,” Dr. Leaning said.

The blast damaged three hospitals so badly that they had to transport patients to other hospitals at precisely the moment when thousands of wounded people needed immediate care.

Medicine and PPE, already in short supply, quickly became even more scarce.

For one thing, “a lot of these resources were consumed in a quick time” as wounded people sought medical care, Zayat said.

In addition, Dr. Leaning said, several major warehouses where vaccines, medicines, and supplies were stored were heavily damaged – and the materials lost – during the explosion.

Beirut, El-Jardali said, was Lebanon’s main port, where much of its medical supply entered the country. Its loss places more pressure on the country’s remaining port, in Tripoli, and on air freight.

In addition, Dr. Abisaab expressed concern that the explosion would increase the spread of Covid, as medical workers treated the wounded with limited PPE: “I think more people will contract Covid, and more health care workers will be exposed, and they’ll be out, so you’ll have even less staff in the hospital who can treat the injured and the wounded and those who have acute medical problems.”

The estimated 300,000 people displaced by the explosion, crowding into shelters or with relatives, are also at higher risk, she said.

The explosion also further compromised the food supply. A major grain silo was damaged, and the port was an important entry point for imported food.

Zayat said that Anera had found at least 12 damaged primary health care centers, which the organization will focus on rehabilitating. “We don’t have complete destruction of any of the centers [in Beirut], but they are all damaged,” further compromising access to vital primary care, she said.

Chahine Hamze, an information and communications technologies manager for the Lebanese Red Cross, said that while the organization was still focused on emergency and ambulance services, along with shelter for the displaced, there was also a tremendous need for psychological support. “We need it so much, badly, in Lebanon,” he said.

In the midst of the devastation, El-Jardali said he took comfort from seeing a widespread response from NGOs and community groups. He described laid-off health care workers volunteering to treat the wounded. “That’s something we celebrate,” he said.

And El-Jardali described Lebanon as a resilient country that has dealt with its fair share of challenges. “It’s a success story in Lebanon for many years,” he said. “I’m not saying we don’t need support, we don’t need help. But we have the seeds for this to work.”

Direct Relief has made a $50,000 grant to Anera, and is donating an initial $500,000 to response efforts. 

The organization is also planning a large-scale medical delivery based on information gathered about needs on the ground.

Direct Relief will continue to coordinate with local and U.S. partners to assess needs and deliver aid.

The post Beirut Explosion Devastates Health System Already in Crisis appeared first on Direct Relief.

At least three hospitals in Beirut have been rendered inoperable, decreasing the number of hospital beds in Lebanon’s capital city by 500, according to the World Health Organization. In addition, at least 12 primary health clinics, maternal, immunization, and newborn centers in Beirut are reported to have been severely damaged or made inoperable. Further reducing the nation’s health care capacity, 17 containers of medical supplies, including personal protection equipment, shipped to Lebanon by WHO were destroyed in the blast. 120 metric tonnes of foodstuffs, and about 85% of cereals in Lebanon, were also incinerated.

Direct Relief has also received reports that indicate damage to cold chain storage capacity – which is needed for some types of medicines and vaccines – and possible damage to at least a portion of Lebanon’s national medical stockpile.

The August 4 explosion is believed to have been caused by the ignition of 2,750 tons of improperly stored ammonium nitrate. It registered as a magnitude 3.3 earthquake.

This disaster comes at a particularly fraught time in Lebanon, in the grip of its worst economic and humanitarian crisis since its 15-year civil war, which ended in 1990. About 75% of Lebanese people were in need of aid prior to the explosion, according to the outgoing government’s estimates.

Direct Relief has extended a $50,000 grant to long-time regional partner Anera, and has made $500,000 available to response efforts so far.

Overall, since 2010, Direct Relief has sent 36 deliveries to partners in Lebanon valued at $7.9 million and containing 1.6 million doses of medicine. Direct Relief is currently in contact with government agencies, local NGOs, and diaspora-based NGOs to help support a comprehensive medical aid response to the crisis.

Additional reporting contributed by Gordon Willcock.

The post Lebanon Reels After Blast, Search for Missing Continues appeared first on Direct Relief.

Shockwaves from the blast were felt up to 10 kilometers away, with smoke and flames rising thousands of feet in the air. Hospitals in Beirut were also damaged, resulting in victims of the explosion being treated in the streets next to health centers and, in some cases, being turned away.

A major hospital, Hotel Dieu, received about 400 injured patients, according to CNN. Major structural damage to buildings within 10 kilometers has also been reported and the city is currently without power.

Direct Relief is coordinating with several Lebanon-based organization, including its long-term partner, Anera, and has committed an initial $500,000 to the response.

Anera reported that their Beirut office was damaged, but that all staffers escaped injuries.

A Brief Status Update on the Explosions in #Lebanon

A massive explosion in the port rocked downtown #Beirut this afternoon. 10 people are reported dead thus far, and over 1,000 people injured. Preliminary reports suggest it was an accident. #BeirutBlast #Lebanonexplosion pic.twitter.com/ttBNDtHpHI

— Anera (@AneraOrg) August 4, 2020

The aid group also reported that much of the nation’s stockpile of medicines was destroyed in the blast.

Additionally, N95 masks and burn creams that Direct Relief shipped in response to the country’s wildfires last year, which were being held at the port, were also destroyed.

Since 2009, Direct Relief has supported Anera’s operations in Lebanon with 32 deliveries valued at $7.468 million.

Overall, since 2010, Direct Relief has sent 36 deliveries to partners in Lebanon valued at $7.9 million and containing 1.6 million doses of medicine.

Direct Relief will continue to monitor the situation and stands ready to respond to aid requests.

Additional reporting contributed by Chris Alleway.

The post Deadly Lebanon Explosion Rocks Beirut, Aid Groups Respond appeared first on Direct Relief.

Nestled in Palestine’s Old City of Hebron, the Hebron Charitable Clinic has become an iconic medical care facility in the area since its establishment in 1986.

The clinic started small but has grown to offer a broader range of services to patients in need of medical care.

“Generous donations over the years funded expansions to include a lab, pharmacy, dental unit and, most recently, X-ray and gynecology units,” said Doctor Wael El-Rajabi, who has been with Hebron for several years.

Today, medicine for chronic diseases and antibiotics for children are among the most-needed items at the clinic due to an overall shortage of essential medicines in the region.

“This has put many disadvantaged families under pressure to find affordable, quality medicine,” Dr. El-Rajabi explained.

Known for its quality services and experienced medical staff, Hebron clinic attracts many patients from neighboring villages who are living with chronic diseases. Often times, patients struggle to balance medical treatment needs while working to provide for their families.

Treating Diabetes

Fadya is a Type 2 diabetes patient in her fifties. Last year, Fadya began experiencing health troubles, including excessive thirst, frequent urination, and sudden weight loss. She went to the doctor for blood tests and was told she was diabetic. She needs medication to regulate her blood sugar levels.

“I tried several drugs, but they were ineffective,” she said. Although she is a Hebron resident, she only learned about the clinic recently, from her grandson, who recommended it after a visit.

“Having Type 2 diabetes means that her body doesn’t control blood glucose well. She needs to control her daily sugar intake and get regular exercise in addition to the medicine,” El-Rajabi explains. He prescribes Fadya the oral anti-hyperglycemic drug combination empagliflozin-linagliptin, donated by Direct Relief and distributed to the West Bank clinic by Anera.

Fadya takes monthly blood tests to measure her cumulative blood sugar levels.

Fadya’s face lit up with a smile of relief when she learns that the medicine is free. Bayan, the clinic pharmacist, gently reminds her to make her next appointment and to call the doctor if she feels any side effects. As she’s leaving, she jokes with Bayan about a favorable side-effect, “This medicine helps me lose weight!”

Dental Unit: Treating Infection

In the dental unit, Samia and her husband are talking to the doctor. She has been sleepless for several days because of an aching tooth. “I wanted to visit a dentist immediately to find out why my tooth was hurting so bad,” she said. After an examination, Dr. Qafisheh, the clinic dentist, says she’ll need to have her wisdom tooth removed.

Five days later, Samia visits the doctor once gain, distracting her son with a balloon. Qafisheh removes the problem tooth and prescribes an antibiotic, amoxicillin-clavulanate potassium, after surgery, to reduce the risk of infection and pain following the procedure.

Nearly half of the Palestinian population has no access to health insurance, so medicines that are available free-of-charge with a prescription are always in high demand. “When medication is available to patients for free,” Qafisheh says, “it’s a big help for families struggling with health issues. Especially with everything else these families have to deal with.”

The post Supplying the Hebron Charitable Clinic with Medicine appeared first on Direct Relief.

Living in the heart of the Old City of Hebron, Yusra, 27, values all the support she receives from family and friends. “We have a wonderful family support system,” says Yusra proudly. “When I need help with the kids and my husband is out at work, our families would readily lend a hand. I would do the same with no hesitation if my sisters or sisters-in-law needed help.”

When Yusra is sick, she relies on her family to watch over her three kids aged 3 to 8 and on the only medical center in the region to get her health back to normal. The Hebron Charitable Medical Center is located in the center of Hebron and supports countless needy families with quality medical care and donated medications, free of charge.

“This center is an important part of our support system, because it helps us keep healthy and is there for us when we’re sick and most vulnerable,” explains Yusra. “People here care very much about their patients, and they’re very considerate, knowing that we come from impoverished backgrounds.”

As a small factory employee, Yusra’s husband makes a pretty modest income. “It’s hardly enough,” Yusra explains. Her husband has had the same job ever since they got married nine years ago. Like most people in the West Bank, his pay has not increased as prices for goods have soared. “There isn’t much opportunity for young men here, so we’re grateful for the center relieving some of our financial burdens.”

If it weren’t for the center, Yusra says she wouldn’t have had money to buy the flu medication, Relenza, that she recently needed from a local pharmacy. Like many people with the same situation, she would rather see the illness through and save her money than ‘squander’ it on ‘treating’ herself. “I would rather buy my kids the clothes that they need or buy healthy food for the house,” she elaborates.

With this financial strain off their backs, Yusra and her family find other ways to unwind. “We like to take walks with the kids every once in a while. I find it is a good way of unwinding after a stressful day and keeping healthy for our own good.”

Anera supplies the Hebron Charitable Medical Center with 70% of its medicines, free of charge. With support from Direct Relief, Anera is able to provide critical medicines, like Relenza, to Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza.

The post Charitable Medical Center Supports Communities in Hebron appeared first on Direct Relief.

Throughout the world, prematurity is the leading cause of death in children under five. About one million babies die from preterm birth complications each year.

According to the World Health Organization, in almost all countries with data, premature birth rates are increasing. Prematurity is also more likely to afflict poorer segments of the population within countries.

What’s worse is that the majority of these deaths could have been prevented with adequate health care. Yet health care is out of reach for many poor families, and especially for Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

NGOs estimate that around 18,000 preterm babies are born each year in Lebanon. Half of them are Syrian babies—showing that premature birth is more prevalent among refugees than in the local population.

Donated Medicine Helps Lebanese Hospital Cope with Premature Births

One of the well-known public health care facilities is Rafik Hariri University Hospital in Beirut. “Around 60 percent of our patients are Syrian refugees, and 40 percent are Lebanese,” said Dr. Imad Shokor, head of pediatrics at the hospital.

“On average, the hospital delivers around 400 Lebanese and Syrian babies each month,” said Dr. Shokor. “In many cases, there are complications either with the newborn, the mother, or both, and this keeps the intensive care unit at pediatrics very busy.”

This spring, the hospital received an in-kind medical aid donation from Abbvie of Survanta, an essential medicine for breathing complications in preterm babies. “Survanta saves the lives of premature babies, and it costs around $500 per vial,” said Shokor. The medicine was developed in the early 1980s, but it was not available in Lebanon until 2004.

Rafik Hariri University Hospital delivers around 400 babies each month. Around 60 percent of their patients are Syrian refugees, and in many cases there are complications with the newborn, the mother or both.

“Survanta is an item that we cannot run out of because it’s a lifesaving medicine,” said Raeda Bitar, the hospital’s head pharmacist.

“These in-kind donations address some of the challenges we face in the pediatrics department, and the hospital in general,” added Dr. Shokor. “There are many challenges that impact our ability to provide the necessary care for our patients, especially due to limited financial resources.”

Direct Relief is one of ANERA’s partners, and Survanta was part of a Direct Relief shipment recently donated and delivered to public hospitals by ANERA in collaboration with the YMCA.

The post Respiratory Medicines Helping Newborns Breathe Easy in Lebanon appeared first on Direct Relief.

Direct Relief is working with Syrian Relief and Development, a group of doctors and nurses that have been working in Western Aleppo and Idlib Province. Idlib was the site of a devastating gas attack in April, and the appalling incident attests to the horrors of war and offers a grisly reminder to the world of the unceasing humanitarian crisis in Syria.

Direct Relief has provided Syrian Relief and Development with field medic packs, which contain an assortment of portable medicines.

Many local hospitals and clinics have been bombed and destroyed, forcing doctors and nurses to treat patients wherever they can. Emergency medical tents have also been sent by Direct Relief, and the tents allow a temporary space for triage care to take place.

Nearly 5 million people have fled Syria since the beginning of the country’s civil war nearly six years ago, a conflict the United Nations has called the largest humanitarian crisis of our time. Another 9 million are internally displaced, meaning they’ve remained in the country but have had to flee their homes.

Within Syria, healthcare access is nearly impossible for people who have been displaced from their homes.

Direct Relief has worked to secure a large donation of critical antibiotics that will help fortify healthcare operations in the country. Other essential items, like emergency health kits, have also been sent. The kits meet the global standard for emergency response and can treat up to 1,000 patients for 30 days. A partnership was forged between United Muslim Relief and Syria Relief and Development to distribute critical medicines and supplies in the country.

Many Syrians have fled to neighboring countries. Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan alone now host 4.7 million refugees, and the health needs of people in these countries are numerous. Below are some small snapshots of what Direct Relief has done in these countries to help.

Turkey is home to almost 3 million registered Syrian refugees. Direct Relief has been working with a public and private partnership between private humanitarian aid organization, ANSAGIAD, and AFAD, a Turkish authority. These public/private partnerships are critical to effectively delivering aid where it’s needed most, to Syrians living in formalized camps as well as millions of refugees living in urban areas near the Turkey/Syria border.

ANSAGIAD aids 17 hospitals serving approximately 1 million people, and Direct Relief has sent two large donations of medicine to ANSAGIAD valued at nearly $3 million. A third shipment is currently in process.

A Direct Relief emergency health kit has also been sent to the Syrian American Medical Society in Turkey, for their work with internally displaced people inside Syria.

Lebanon is hosting an estimated 1 million Syrian refugees, over 90 percent of which live outside of formal camps. That means that these refugees are more likely to seek care in community clinics and hospitals, placing a strain on that country’s healthcare safety net facilities.

Basic health services, like dental care, are also often lacking for refugee communities, and Direct Relief has committed $50,000 to humanitarian group ANERA Lebanon for a dental program in northern Lebanon focused on Syrian refugee children. Days for Girls feminine hygiene kits were also donated for refugee women in Lebanon.

Jordan hosts 655,000 Syrian refugees, with roughly 80 percent living outside formal camps. Non-communicable diseases, like diabetes and heart disease, remain leading causes of death for refugees. To deal with this, Direct Relief gave $300,000 to the Royal Health Awareness Society for their Healthy Community Clinics program, which focuses on treating non-communicable diseases.

Tobacco use is also common among refugees, and smoking cessation gum was donated to the Royal Health Awareness Society. Other key items to manage chronic conditions, like insulin, needles and syringes have arrived in Amman and are being distributed to charitable healthcare providers by the Jordan Ministry of Health. Key donations have also been made to the Jordan Health Aid Society as well as the Directorate Royal Medical Services.

Efforts to assist to Syrians in need will continue into 2017, and Direct Relief remains committed to the health of those within that country’s borders and beyond.

The post As Syrian Civil War Wages On, Direct Relief Aids Refugees in Country and Beyond appeared first on Direct Relief.

At the age of 38, Hussein suffered his first heart attack. Since then, he has carried a pacemaker and has been taking medicines to survive.

Now a retired grandfather, he spent most of his life as a truck driver and a devoted father to his 11 children. Since financial means have always been limited for Hussein, he has relied on a charitable hospital in Hebron, West Bank for daily medication to keep his cholesterol levels in check.

ANERA delivers medicines to the hospital so that its shelves are always stocked. The medicines come as donations from various partner organizations. Direct Relief, one of ANERA’s  partners, recently donated a cholesterol-lowering medication that is in very high demand in the area. Pravastatin is given to chronic disease patients entirely free-of-charge.

Donated Medicines are a Lifeline for West Bank Patients

The vast majority of the hospital’s patients are poverty-stricken, and would not be able to afford the medicine if it was not donated. The availability of an important medication like Pravastatin alleviates some of the financial burden that patients already cope with. Younger patients are especially affected, as they have families to support and usually on very low wages.

Dr. Abd Al-Wadood Abu-Haikal is the head of the Hebron hospital’s ICU. He has worked there for eight years, moving between the ICU and the cardiology and internal medicine departments. The young doctor is pleased with Direct Relief’s donation.

“The medication is really valuable to us, especially because it covers a range of different patients, including those who suffer heart attacks and strokes,” said Dr. Abu-Haikal. “It’s also given to diabetics as a preemptive measure — as they are also prone to heart problems — as well as kidney patients, high blood pressure patients and thyroid patients.”

In Hebron, Fatty Foods Contribute to Illnesses

Hussein has been recuperating from a recent cardiac catheterization after doctors discovered a partially clogged artery. Dr. Abu-Haikal checks up on him every day to monitor his recovery.

“The common lifestyle of a truck driver, especially in the West Bank, involves heavy smoking and the consumption of fatty fast food with low nutritional value,” explained the doctor. “These are some elements that eventually lead to coronary heart disease and heart attacks.” According to Dr. Haikal, 80 percent of older patients at the hospital rely on medications like Pravastatin, and it’s usually due to genetic and lifestyle-related factors.

Apart from genetics and family history, the doctor primarily blames the high-fat diet consumed by many people in the West Bank, and specifically in the city of Hebron, as well as bad eating habits. “In Hebron it’s all about meat, rice, bread and high-fat dairy products. People even retire to bed straight after dinner,” he said. “Generally speaking, we’re not a society that exercises. You don’t see people walking to work or jogging in the evening, or playing sports during the day.”

According to Dr. Abu-Haikal, most patients who are tested for cholesterol levels turn out to have high levels of “bad” cholesterol, and he finds it quite concerning. He suggests patients make a radical change in their lifestyle habits before resorting to chronic medication, urging them to watch what they eat and to exercise as much as possible.

Hussein Thrives as a Grandfather Thanks to Palestine Medical Relief

Despite Hussein’s health problems and limited financial resources, he has managed to raise well-educated children with university degrees and has lived to see some of his older grandchildren go to university.

“In Palestine, many chronic disease patients like Hussein don’t have access to free medication,” said ANERA In-kind Field Assistant Mohammad Atieh. “So they’re torn between treating their illnesses on the one hand and providing for their families on the other. These donated medicines have made it possible for people to continue working and take better care of their families.”

The post Grandfather in West Bank Relies on Donated Medicines to Treat Chronic Heart Condition appeared first on Direct Relief.

An email message received from Jennifer Ibrahim, ANERA’s Director of Programs, sums up the crucial timing of this donation:

“Amazingly the Direct Relief air shipment made it to Gaza just before the border closed (like minutes before). The borders have opened up since then for humanitarian supplies, but it’s still a success story. Mostafa [a staffer] braved the eerily empty streets yesterday to go to the warehouse and was able to distribute half of the shipment to six hospitals/clinics that sent their ambulances to pick up the medicine. We are SO thankful that this Direct Relief shipment arrived when it did . . . the sooner we can start working on the next one the better.”

Founded in 1968 as an apolitical and nonsectarian development assistance organization, ANERA operates health, nutrition, education, and employment programs for disadvantaged, impoverished, and displaced families caught in regional conflicts throughout the Middle East.

Support of their work is critical as the recent escalation of violence between Israel and Hamas has put a heavy strain on Gaza’s already fragile health care system. The Palestinian territory, which regularly experiences shortages of medicines, medical disposables, and fuel supplies, is now struggling to cope with the sharp increase in medical emergencies and other health-related needs of those affected by the fighting.

The civilian population of Gaza is comprised of around 1.6 million people, 75 percent of whom are women and children. These residents are confined in an overcrowded war zone and often have to evacuate their homes to seek cover in safer areas. Even if people do not experience direct physical injury, they can become ill due to sheltering in crowded and unsanitary conditions, drinking contaminated water, or not having access to the pharmaceuticals and medical supplies needed to control chronic conditions.

Direct Relief has supported ANERA’s healthcare-related efforts since 2004, providing medical goods to hospitals, clinics, and refugee camps in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, and Jordan.

With no end to the fighting in sight, Direct Relief and ANERA have begun to process another delivery of essential medical products for people in Gaza affected by the conflict.

The post Medical Aid Reaches Hospitals in Gaza Before Border Closes appeared first on Direct Relief.

Working together, Direct Relief and ANERA have identified the most essential medicines and supplies, over 700 lbs. of sutures, syringes, hypertensives, surgical scrub, bandages, and other personal care products (valued at over $645,000) provided by Covidien. At least one full, 40-foot ocean container of hospital beds, sodium chloride, wound dressings, and other medical material will follow and should arrive Saturday.

Since the civil war in Syria began in March of last year, an estimated 250,000 refugees have fled to camps in neighboring Turkey, Jordan, and Lebanon. In the past few months, threats of air and artillery attacks have accelerated the exodus. The ANERA office in Lebanon has registered 66,000 Syrian refugees already. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR),  75 percent of the new arrivals are women and children and many of these refugees are entirely dependent on humanitarian aid, some coming with only the clothes on their backs and few financial resources.

This aid will help strengthen medical services for Syrian refugees in Lebanon and demonstrates Direct Relief’s mission to improve the health and lives of those affected by poverty, disaster, and civil unrest. Direct Relief sincerely thanks Covidien for their partnership in supporting these relief efforts.

The post Medical Supplies Support Growing Syrian Refugee Crisis appeared first on Direct Relief.

Direct Relief today released six tons of essential medicines, supplies, and durable medical equipment valued at $323,972 (wholesale) for use in clinics and hospitals throughout Gaza as well as facilities supported by ANERA in the West Bank. The specifically requested materials include analgesics, antibiotics, surgical supplies, and exam tables.

Founded in 1968, apolitical and nonsectarian ANERA provides health, education, and employment programs for impoverished families in the Middle East. Direct Relief has supported ANERA since 2004 with medical aid totaling $1.8 million (wholesale).

The post Gaza: Direct Relief Providing Support for Clinics, Hospitals appeared first on Direct Relief.