ReplenishRx is an enhanced version of a program that provided 91,000 prescriptions to more than 23,000 patients in 2022. ReplenishRx makes it easier for free clinics, community health centers, and charitable pharmacies to enroll in the program themselves, and in turn, makes it easier for providers to enroll individual patients.

ReplenishRx is a streamlined option for pharmaceutical and medical technology manufacturers to donate their products directly to safety net organizations that care for people without health insurance or other means to pay for them.

ReplenishRx provides free medicine only for people lacking any health insurance and with household income at or below 300% of the Federal poverty line. Neither patients nor private insurance companies, nor the government are billed for the medicine. People eligible for ReplenishRx assistance do not qualify for health coverage from their state’s Medicaid program and cannot afford to purchase health insurance.

Pharmaceutical companies or foundations donating medicine to ReplenishRx include AbbVie, Eli Lilly and Company, Johnson & Johnson Patient Assistance Foundation, Medicines360, and Sanofi Cares North America.

“Lilly is deeply committed to expanding access to our medicines,” said Patrik Jonsson, Executive Vice President; President, Lilly Immunology and Lilly USA; and Chief Customer Officer. “We appreciate that Direct Relief’s ReplenishRx program not only reduces administrative burdens on safety-net clinics but also streamlines the process so that patients with limited resources can get the medicines they need, when they need them.”

Lilly and Sanofi both donate insulin through ReplenishRx.

Direct Relief set up its original Replenishment program in 2008 to streamline availability of medicine to uninsured patients at safety net clinics that primarily serve uninsured patients, including Federally Qualified Health Centers and free and charitable clinics and pharmacies. The program was designed to make it easier for patients to get medicine, while improving delivery and management of inventory for safety net clinics and pharmaceutical manufacturers. It helps clinics and charitable pharmacies provide a steady supply of vital medicine to patients lacking insurance, without the need to apply to individual Patient Assistance Programs (PAPs) offered by pharmaceutical companies.

Pharmaceutical manufacturers ship donated medicine to Direct Relief’s warehouse in Santa Barbara, California. Direct Relief manages clinic enrollment, distribution logistics, and compliance oversight of the health clinics. The clinics enroll patients based on strict eligibility guidelines, track all inventory received from Direct Relief, dispense prescribed products to eligible patients, and report product usage back to Direct Relief. Direct Relief’s ReplenishRx enables manufacturers to reach a growing network of safety-net organizations.

“The program provides a consistent, steady supply of medication for patients who have no insurance, who are low-income and have diabetes or another chronic disease,” said Marisa Barnes, who runs the ReplenishRx program at Direct Relief. “We’re reducing the amount of paperwork that’s required to participate, which means more clinics and more patients will be able to take part in the program. We’re anticipating rapid growth, particularly in the provision of insulin.”

Traditional PAPs are most often used by individual patients, who seek out programs for specific drugs, apply themselves for admission and then apply for annual renewals. Many safety-net providers help patients submit and manage the paperwork or do it on their behalf. Each patient, including those enrolled by clinics, requires a separate application from each drug maker. Clinics often rely on volunteers to help patients manage the paperwork.

Direct Relief acts as a single point of contact between each clinic and all the pharmaceutical makers it works with. Each clinic requests all its donated medicine once a month for its eligible patients from Direct Relief, and each pharmaceutical company deals only with Direct Relief to distribute its donated medicine to enrolled clinics. Rather than having to continuously request refills for each drug, enrolled healthcare organizations each month report how much of a medicine they have used, and Direct Relief sends them the same amount of the drug again in a single monthly shipment.

ReplenishRx enables patients to receive medicine at the clinic during the same visit when it is prescribed, reducing the risk that the patient won’t follow through to obtain and take the medicine, and thus improving overall health outcomes.

“Direct Relief’s Replenishment Program streamlines the process of participating in manufacturers’ patient assistance programs for our low-income, uninsured patients,” said Jennifer Buxton, Acting Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of Cape Fear Clinic Inc. in Wilmington, N.C. “But, perhaps more importantly, it removes the treatment delay by allowing our clinic to keep inventory on hand that is immediately available for use.”

“Direct Relief’s Replenishment Program has been a complete game-changer for NC MedAssist’s Free Pharmacy Program,” said Dustin Allen, Chief Operating Officer & Director of Pharmacy Operations at NC MedAssist in Charlotte, N.C., the only statewide nonprofit pharmacy in North Carolina. “By ordering medications via a single interface as opposed to four separate ones, it not only cuts down on time needed for order placement but also ensures consistent delivery of medications.”

The original Replenishment program required participating pharmacies to use pharmacy software that many of the smallest healthcare organizations lack. Under ReplenishRx, enrolled organizations can upload the necessary information from their electronic health record systems, allowing a wider degree of participation.

Direct Relief has also made it faster and easier for small healthcare organizations to enroll in the program. Under the original program, it could take eight months to a year for an organization to develop and document the standard operating procedures needed to ensure compliance with donation program requirements, which differ among pharma companies. Direct Relief has now developed a Standard Operating Procedures manual that healthcare organizations can integrate into their processes.

ReplenishRx is just one of the many ways Direct Relief provides support to health centers, free and charitable clinics and charitable pharmacies. Direct Relief’s core Safety Net Program donates medicine and medical supplies to more than 1,300 health clinic and charitable pharmacy locations. The program allows them to request donations of specific drugs, which Direct Relief allocates according to available supply and the number of patients each organization serves. In 2022, the Safety Net Program donated medicine with a wholesale value of $258 million. All the medicine Direct Relief donates to these organizations can be dispensed only to low-income patients lacking any health insurance.

The post Direct Relief’s ReplenishRx Increases Access to Donated Medicine for People Unable to Afford It appeared first on Direct Relief.

Direct Relief has donated enough Covid-19 vaccines to reach more than 19 million people, along with enough innovative therapies to treat more than 350,000 patients with mild to moderate Covid infections and treat more than 80,000 patients hospitalized with severe Covid infections. The products primarily benefited people in low- and middle-income countries in all regions of the world, as well as Native American communities within the USA.

The Covid-19 products provided had Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and/or the European Union’s European Medicines Agency (EMA). Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, Direct Relief had never donated Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) medicines or vaccines. Because these medicines hadn’t yet received standard regulatory approval, Direct Relief needed to secure special humanitarian import authorization from the government of each recipient country.

• Direct Relief’s humanitarian provision of critical Covid-19 products under Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) includes:
• Covid-19 vaccines made by Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, and AstraZeneca and provided by Direct Relief in coordination with the U.S., Mexican, and other overseas governments and partners
• Cold-chain monoclonal antibodies from Eli Lilly and Company administered via infusion for high-risk patients with mild to moderate Covid-19 infections to reduce progression to hospitalization
• Oral therapies from Lilly for hospitalized patients requiring supplemental oxygen with severe Covid-19 infections
• Covid-19 therapies from Merck & Co. and Pfizer that reduce progression to hospitalization for those with mild to moderate Covid-19 infections

According to the WHO Coronavirus (Covid-19) Dashboard, globally since early 2020, there have been over 657 million confirmed Covid-19 cases that have resulted in the death of over 6.6 million individuals. A significant percentage of deaths have taken place in the developing world, where it is assumed given the lack of Covid-19 test diagnostics, that not all cases were confirmed and or deaths attributed to Covid-19. Direct Relief has focused the majority of its Covid-19 Rx support outside of the U.S. and Europe, instead focusing on countries that lacked access to vaccines and therapies to address Covid-19.

“Egypt’s Ministry of Health welcomed Direct Relief’s donations of the combination monoclonal antibodies bamlanivimab + etesevimab and the orally administered antiviral drug molnupiravir which were utilized to help treat Egyptians with mild to moderate Covid-19 infections, as well as the baricitinib used to treat our Covid-19 hospitalized patients,” stated Egypt’s Minister of Health and Population, Honorable Prof. Khaled Abdel Ghafaar. “These donated therapies represented an important and vital tool in fighting the Covid-19 epidemic in our country at times when we had high caseloads, which led to decreasing the pressure on the dedicated Covid-19 hospital units and improving patient care and outcomes.”

In addition, Direct Relief provided to its overseas partners in the developing world over 2,500 shipping pallets of antibiotics, vasopressors, blood thinners, steroids, inhalers, intravenous fluids and other prescription medicines required in treating patients hospitalized with serious Covid-19 infections. Many of these patients were hospitalized with pneumonia or cardiovascular conditions. Direct Relief also provided over 35,000 oxygen concentrators for improved breathing for patients with serious Covid-19 infections.

“Direct Relief’s ability to work through the toughest logistics challenges in global drug delivery, combined with the generosity of our pharmaceutical partners, enabled many millions of individuals around the globe to be treated for Covid-19 infections or avoid becoming infected,” said Tom Roane, Direct Relief’s vice president of corporate engagement. “This was especially challenging during an era of mandatory shutdowns and limited staff in many of the countries receiving these EUA products.”

The monoclonal antibodies initially provided were challenging to deliver to the developing world, as they required consistent refrigerated temperature control during distribution, as well as infusion facilities for systemic administration of the medicines. The oral therapies that emerged later have been significantly more straightforward to provide to lower-income countries. Access to these innovative therapies has been vitally important given the very low Covid-19 vaccine rates in most of the recipient countries.

For the Covid-19 vaccines, shipping and logistics were an even greater challenge, as these products required either cold-chain (2° to 8° Celsius) and or ultra-cold-chain (either -20° C or -80° C) throughout their storage and shipping. Direct Relief’s transportation department had to establish or validate shipping lanes to countries little served by commercial transportation, and to use sophisticated software to ensure that the products were packed in a way that would maintain consistent temperature throughout the medicine’s journey. Direct Relief takes these measures for all of its cold-chain shipments in order to maintain the integrity of the products.

“Lilly is incredibly grateful for the collaboration with Direct Relief that enabled patients around the world to be treated with our Covid therapies,” said Ilya Yuffa, president of Lilly International. “We are committed to equitable access to our medicines and nonprofit collaborations like this one are essential to making life better for all people, including those in resource-limited settings.”

“Pfizer remains firmly committed to continue working towards equitable and affordable access for COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics for people around the world,” said Caroline Roan, senior vice president of Global Health & Social Impact at Pfizer Inc. “We are proud of Direct Relief’s work to reach underserved communities, including people living in low- and middle-income countries.”

The post Donations of Emergency Use Authorization Covid-19 Medical Products Reach Over 19 Million Worldwide appeared first on Direct Relief.

The patient didn’t speak Spanish, only her Indigenous Nahuatl language. She had not realized that the procedure would mean that she was “going out flat,” or with her breasts completely removed, said Gitler, a breast reconstruction surgeon and founder of the ALMA Foundation.

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The ALMA Foundation is a group of plastic surgeons who specialize in breast reconstruction and perform reconstructive surgeries at no cost to breast cancer survivors.

Gitler spoke with the patient through a translator and told her about the option of having reconstructive surgery. Soon thereafter, the patient became a candidate and received a reconstruction from Gitler’s team of volunteer surgeons. 

In 2020, Mexico saw more than 29,000 new cases of breast cancer and almost 8,000 related deaths, making it the most common cancer among Mexican women, according to the WHO. Treating the disease with a multidisciplinary medical team that includes an oncologist, mental health provider, and plastic surgeon is an important priority.

For many women, reconstructive surgery is an essential part of their recovery. But it’s generally not covered by public insurance, and many individuals can’t afford the procedure.

Direct Relief has provided ongoing support to two organizations in Mexico that work with breast cancer survivors: Fundación Alma, and Fundación Voluntarias Contra el Cáncer, which helps women with high economic vulnerability navigate breast cancer treatment and connect them to services.

Both organizations offer services free of charge, including helping a total of more than 800 women thus far access reconstructive surgery at Mexican hospitals.

Now, the company Johnson & Johnson Mexico has added its support, making it possible for Fundación Alma and Fundación Voluntarias Contra el Cáncer to help more women.

“It is extremely important to support women to feel comfortable with themselves, providing information that helps them develop the confidence to self-examine, as well as to know and explore comprehensive breast cancer treatment options, including breast reconstruction,” a Johnson & Johnson press release said.

Of course, reconstructive breast surgery isn’t for everyone.

“[Reconstruction] is entirely the patient’s decision,” said Esther Cisneros, the President of Fundación Voluntarias contra el Cáncer A.C., an organization that helps women navigate breast cancer treatment and connect them with free reconstructive surgeries. “What the foundation seeks is that the patient always has the option regardless of what they decide.”

But when presented with the option, an overwhelming majority of women in Mexico —more than two-thirds—said they’d prefer to have breast reconstruction after their mastectomy. “There are many studies that if you inform patients about the procedure, you…increase the uptake of the surgery by 30%,” said Paulina Bajonero, a researcher and general surgeon in Monterrey, Mexico.  

Many women report feeling less confident after surviving breast cancer and according to Bajonero’s research, just want “to look the same as they did before.”

Gitler, who is also a breast cancer survivor, said seeing her body after her double mastectomy was “one of the most shocking moments” of her life. Now, when she counsels patients at the ALMA Foundation, she understands why having breasts can be an important part of a woman’s identity. “The phrase I hear every day is that they ‘feel incomplete,’” she said. 

Additionally, some women face fallout in their romantic relationships after having breast cancer surgery. “Sadly in Mexico there is still this thought [among] men that…women are worthy because of their breasts,” said Gitler. Sixty percent of patients at the ALMA Foundation report being left by their partners after their diagnosis. 

For many women, receiving reconstructive surgery is an important part of resuming their social and professional lives. But it’s not just about reducing or erasing the negative consequences of breast cancer surgery. Instead, it’s often about moving on.

“Reconstruction makes it so [women] can close a window,” said Cisneros, allowing them to put their experience with cancer behind them. 

Direct Relief has provided more than $260,000 in medical aid to Fundación Alma and Fundación Voluntarias Contra el Cáncer. Johnson & Johnson Mexico provided breast implants for patients receiving reconstructive surgery through these two organizations.

The post In Mexico, Reconstructive Surgeries Help Women Move on from Breast Cancer appeared first on Direct Relief.

Muchas mujeres no pueden pagar la reconstrucción, pero informan que se sienten “incompletas” después de una mastectomía. Dos organizaciones que trabajan con sobrevivientes de cáncer de mama tienen como objetivo cambiar eso.

La paciente acababa de someterse a una doble mastectomía por cáncer de mama cuando la Dra. Rina Gitler la conoció en Guerrero, México. Y estaba llorando.

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La paciente no hablaba español, solo su lengua indígena náhuatl. No se había dado cuenta de que el procedimiento significaría que “saldría plana” o que le extirparían los senos por completo, dijo Gitler, cirujano de reconstrucción mamaria y fundador de la Fundación ALMA.

La Fundación ALMA es un grupo de cirujanos plásticos que se especializan en la reconstrucción mamaria y realizan cirugías reconstructivas sin costo alguno para las sobrevivientes de cáncer de mama.

Gitler habló con la paciente a través de un traductor y le habló sobre la opción de someterse a una cirugía reconstructiva. Poco después, la paciente se convirtió en candidata y recibió una reconstrucción del equipo de cirujanos voluntarios de Gitler.

En 2020, México registró más de 29,000 casos nuevos de cáncer de mama y casi 8,000 muertes relacionadas, lo que lo convierte en el cáncer más común entre las mujeres mexicanas, según la Organización Mundial de la Salud. El tratamiento de la enfermedad con un equipo médico multidisciplinario que incluya un oncólogo, un proveedor de salud mental y un cirujano plástico es una prioridad.

Para muchas mujeres, la cirugía reconstructiva es una parte esencial de su recuperación. Pero generalmente no está cubierto por el seguro público y muchas personas no pueden pagar el procedimiento.

Direct Relief ha brindado apoyo continuo a dos organizaciones en México que trabajan con sobrevivientes de cáncer de mama: Fundación Alma y Fundación Voluntarias Contra el Cáncer, que ayudan a mujeres con alta vulnerabilidad económica a navegar el tratamiento del cáncer de mama y conectarlas con los servicios.

Ambas organizaciones ofrecen servicios gratuitos y al día de hoy han ayudado a más de 800 mujeres para acceder a cirugía reconstructivas hospitales en México.

Johnson & Johnson México ha sumado su apoyo, haciendo posible que Fundación Alma y Fundación Voluntarias Contra el Cáncer ayuden a más mujeres.

“Es extremadamente importante apoyar a las mujeres para que se sientan cómodas consigo mismas, brindándoles información que las ayude a desarrollar la confianza para autoexaminarse, así como para conocer y explorar opciones integrales de tratamiento del cáncer de mama, incluida la reconstrucción mamaria”, dijo un comunicado de prensa de Johnson & Johnson.

Por supuesto, la cirugía reconstructiva mamaria no es para todas.

“[La reconstrucción] es enteramente decisión de la paciente”, dijo Esther Cisneros, presidenta de Fundación Voluntarias contra el Cáncer A.C., una organización que ayuda a las mujeres a transitar el tratamiento del cáncer de mama y conectarlas con cirugías reconstructivas gratuitas. “Lo que busca la fundación es que el paciente siempre tenga la opción independientemente de lo que decida”.

Pero cuando se les presentó la opción, una abrumadora mayoría de mujeres en México, más de dos tercios, dijeron que preferirían hacerse una reconstrucción mamaria después de la mastectomía. “Hay muchos estudios que indican que si informas a los pacientes sobre el procedimiento, aumentas la aceptación de la cirugía en un 30 %”, dijo Paulina Bajonero, investigadora y cirujana general en Monterrey, México.

Muchas mujeres informan que se sienten menos seguras después de sobrevivir al cáncer de mama y, según su investigación, solo quieren “lucir igual que antes”.

Gitler, quien también es sobreviviente de cáncer de mama, dice que ver su cuerpo después de su doble mastectomía fue “uno de los momentos más impactantes” de su vida. Ahora, cuando asesora a pacientes a través de la Fundación ALMA, comprende por qué tener senos puede ser una parte importante de la identidad de una mujer. “La frase que escucho todos los días es que ‘se sienten incompletas’”, dijo.

Además, algunas mujeres enfrentan consecuencias en sus relaciones personales después de someterse a una cirugía de cáncer de mama. “Lamentablemente en México todavía existe este pensamiento [entre] los hombres de que… las mujeres valen por sus senos”, dijo Gitler. Sesenta por ciento de las pacientes de Fundación ALMA reportan ser abandonadas por sus parejas después de su diagnóstico.

Para muchas mujeres, someterse a una cirugía reconstructiva es una parte importante de la reanudación de su vida social y profesional. Pero no se trata solo de reducir o borrar las consecuencias negativas de la cirugía del cáncer de mama. En cambio, a menudo se trata de seguir adelante.

“La reconstrucción hace que [las mujeres] puedan cerrar ese capítulo”, dice Cisneros, permitiéndoles dejar atrás su experiencia con el cáncer.

Direct Relief ha entregado más de $260,000 pesos en ayuda médica a Fundación Alma y Fundación Voluntarias Contra el Cáncer. Johnson & Johnson México proporcionó implantes mamarios que beneficiarán a pacientes que se sometieron a cirugía reconstructiva a través de estas dos organizaciones.

The post En México, Las Cirugías Reconstructivas Ayudan a Las Mujeres a Reinsertarse en la Vida Después de Haber Padecido el Cáncer de Mama appeared first on Direct Relief.

To address the rising case count, Direct Relief is donating 1 million surgical masks from the U.S. to 155 public health care facilities across Mexico.

The donation adds to the more than 330,000 masks, 10,000 goggles, 40,000 faceshields, 489,000 gloves, and 48,000 gowns and coveralls delivered already by Direct Relief to Mexican hospitals and nonprofits responding to Covid-19.

Not included in this total are 100,000 KN95 masks donated to Mexican NGO Fundacion IMSS by two-time Academy Award-winning film director Alfonso Cuarón, which Direct Relief helped import.

Direct Relief, which has operated as registered national NGO in Mexico since 2014, has supported Mexico’s response to Covid-19 since the pandemic began, coordinating with a range of public agencies and businesses.

The Mexican Social Security Institute, the National Nutrition Institute, the Mexican Consulate in California, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have collected and relayed medical supply needs while several Mexico-based medical manufacturers have committed in-kind donations to Direct Relief of medical resources. PricewaterhouseCoopers has worked to identify additional PPE vendors and helped developed a distribution plan that aligns supply with demand

Along with PPE, Direct Relief received Bepanthen (skin cream) from Bayer to be distributed to frontline health workers experiencing skin irritation from PPE. Johnson & Johnson also contributed nonprescription medications and supplies, and The Coca Cola Foundation supported Direct Relief’s response with a $791,000 grant, which was used to purchase PPE.

Additional reporting contributed by Eduardo Mendoza.

The post Mexico Hits Highest Covid-19 Positive Test Rate As 1 Million Masks Arrive From Direct Relief appeared first on Direct Relief.

As countries in Latin America, Africa and South Asia became the latest hotspots of the Covid-19 pandemic, Direct Relief has accelerated its response in these regions, beginning with shipments of enough Covid-related emergency medicine and medical supplies to treat more than 50,000 intensive-care patients in developing countries around the globe.

Shortly after it began its Covid-19 response in January, Direct Relief began identifying and procuring medicines that would be needed by intensive care units treating Covid-19 patients. Working with critical care specialists and healthcare companies, Direct Relief developed ICU Critical Supply Modules that could be prepackaged, stockpiled and rapidly deployed in the event of drug scarcity. The international version of the ICU Modules contains medications and supplies selected to treat up to 500 ICU patients.

Direct Relief has begun dispatching 115 ICU Modules to 32 partners in 27 countries across Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Southeastern Europe. They are being sent with stocks of personal protective equipment and oxygen concentrators, and some partners have requested and are receiving donated ventilators.

Direct Relief’s largest international shipment to date of Covid-19 relief supplies arrived in Ecuador on June 4. Responding to a request from the Government of Ecuador, Direct Relief shipped seven ICU Critical Supply Modules and 90 portable oxygen concentrators, plus basic supplies and medicines for both Covid-19 and general medical care. In all, it shipped 26 pallets of essential medicines and supplies weighing 8.8 tons.

Direct Relief has also so far delivered 164 domestic ICU Modules to hospitals in the United States, each containing supplies designed to treat up to 100 hospitalized patients. Hospitals treating severely ill ICU patients—including those on ventilators—need medication for sedation and to address some of the secondary complications that may arise, including bacterial pneumonia and septic shock. The ICU Critical Supply Modules include antibiotics such as azithromycin and ceftriaxone, vasopressors such as norepinephrine, and respiratory medications like albuterol inhalers.

How Recipients Were Selected

Because the needs of Direct Relief’s partner network far exceed the available resources, Direct Relief carefully selected recipients based on a series of criteria including Covid-19 patient numbers, ICU capacity, status of the proposed recipient hospital as a nationally recognized center of Covid-19 treatment, logistical ability to clear customs and receive the shipments, and direct requests from national Ministries of Health.

The information was cross-checked with national vulnerability data based on Direct Relief’s new Covid-19 International Vulnerability Index Map. The index assigns vulnerability scores to countries based on indicators including co-morbidities, number of hospital beds, population over 60, food insecurity and Covid-19 case counts.

In South America, ICU Module recipients include Ecuador, Paraguay and Peru. In the Caribbean and Central America, ICU Modules are being sent to Antigua & Barbuda, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica and St. Lucia. In EMEA, recipients include Armenia, Ghana, Italy, Kosovo, Lesotho, Liberia, Macedonia, Malawi, Palestine, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Yemen and Zimbabwe. In Asia, Dhulikhel Hospital in Nepal is receiving two ICU Modules.

The ICU Modules are only one part of Direct Relief’s Covid-19 response outside the U.S. Direct Relief has provided grant funding to treat Covid-19 among Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, to help build dedicated Covid-19 isolation and treatment wards in Haiti and the Philippines, to purchase PPE in Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and India, and—via a $50,000 emergency grant to the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States—to increase Covid-19 testing capacity in Saint Lucia, Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dominica, St. Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda. The organization has also provided ventilators and other critical medical items to several countries.

Latin America Response

Direct Relief has a key strategic partnership with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the division of the World Health Organization overseeing 35 countries in the Americas. Direct Relief has arranged a charter flight carrying $7 million in PPE purchased by PAHO to be delivered to many of its member states across the Americas. The charter is currently scheduled to arrive in Panama this week.

Supported in part by generous financial and material donations from Coca-Cola Foundation, Bayer Mexico, Johnson & Johnson, 3M and AstraZeneca, Direct Relief donations to Mexican health partners include 350,000 surgical masks for hospitals, 10,000 goggles and 30,000 face shields.

Another large shipment containing PPE, Emergency Medical Backpacks, general medicines and other supplies was delivered to the Ministry of Health of Bolivia, which is facing multiple health emergencies including Covid-19 and a dengue outbreak. Additional Covid-19 preparedness donations containing Emergency Medical Backpacks and PPE have been sent to PAHO member states including Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama and Paraguay.

Since Direct Relief’s first Covid-19 response shipment on Jan. 24, 2020, the organization has sent $23 million in medical aid to South America via 26 deliveries. Internationally excluding the United States, Direct Relief has distributed 1.4 million masks, 1.3 million gloves and more than 500,000 other PPE supplies.

The post Direct Relief Expands Medical Aid to More Than Two Dozen Countries Fighting Covid-19 appeared first on Direct Relief.

The West African nation, in total, faces a mental health treatment gap of 98%, according to the World Health Organization, meaning only 2% of people are receiving the care they need. As of 2017, Ghana had 18 psychiatrists serving an estimated population exceeding 28 million.

“[Mental health care] has, traditionally, been a very neglected area,” said Dr. Sammy Ohene, head of the psychiatric department at the University of Ghana.

Like most countries, Ghana has specific stigmas associated with mental illness, but has also had to cope with an extreme scarcity of psychiatrists, something Dr. Ohene tried to remedy by starting a residency program.

Overcoming Stigma

But even with more trained psychiatrists in the country over the past few years, lingering, culturally-based problems exist.

“With mental illness, the stigma is virtually everywhere, but manifests differently in various social contexts,” said Peter Badimak Yaro, executive director of BasicNeeds Ghana, a leading in-country, mental health-focused NGO.

“Ghana is one place where people try to avoid people with mental illness,” Yaro said.

This has led to a curtailing of basic human rights for those who suffer from mental illness, according to Yaro, which manifests itself in reduced opportunities for employment, movement, and free expression.

“Families do everything to keep away relatives with mental health problems. They try to conceal or hide people,” he said.

Reducing Harmful Interventions

Further complicating matters in Ghana, beyond the lack of access to care and alienation, are deeply-held beliefs about the nature of mental health.

“Most people in Ghana believe that psychiatric disorders have a spiritual basis. Therefore, when people have a mental illness, they’re very likely to be taken to a spiritual healer, church, or some other traditional healer,” said Ohene.

These methods of treatment have led to human rights abuses, as documented in news reporting during recent years, as patients who are prone to aggression are physically restrained for extended periods of time, and in uncomfortable positions.

“Most of them don’t have any particular skills in controlling aggression, so if a disturbed patent is brought there, they’re forced to physically restrain them. That is a huge problem,” said Ohene.

Restraining patients is common in healthcare facilities in northern Ghana. A survey of 10 health facilities across northern Ghana showed that almost 1,000 patients spent more than 20 percent of the time spent in the facilities were in restraints. That study, used to determine health needs in the region, was written by Direct Relief and conducted by Breast Care International, with funding from Johnson & Johnson.

Ohene said it is often only after traditional or spiritual treatments have failed, that patients and their families will visit a hospital or clinical setting—which can come it its own attendant problems, though ones which are consistent across cultures. Namely, if an illness recurs, many patients and their families will think the hospital staff doesn’t really know what they’re talking about. Patients and families are looking for a cure.

“It’s difficult for people to accept this is a condition they have to live with forever,“ Ohene said. “The concept of managing a disease process over the long term is not something people find very attractive.”

Finding Solutions

To address some of the most pressing problems in Ghana, Ohene and Yaro have been working to increase access to care, find alternative solutions, train people to work, and advocate for more government support, as well as updated policies.

BasicNeeds provides support for medical trips to the north of the country for Ohene and his colleagues and also provides Risperdal, an anti-psychotic medication, to local clinics, where community health nurses are charged with taking the lead on treating patients with mental health symptoms.

“The medicines, donated by Johnson & Johnson and sent through Direct Relief, are filling a gap for hundreds of patients,” Yaro said. “They are now able to get through their daily activities.”

Yaro added that the donated drugs, representing a wholesale value of $9 million, have helped about 50 community health units to continue to function.

Almost 12,000 patients in the northern Ghana regions have been given access to medication through the program.

Even as the medication has provided treatment, when it is available, and Ohene is optimistic about the impact of the doctors he’s been able to train, problems still exist with near-term, sustainable options, which Yaro and Ohene have been advocating for in Accra.

“It’s slow, but things are looking up. The law (Mental Health Act, 2012) makes for a mental health fund, but none has been established. They’re working on it,” said Ohene. The doctor said that the lack of a fund has led to confusion and delays regarding implementation of another aspect of the same law, which stipulates that mental healthcare is to be provided free of charge.

Because no fund has been established, the national insurance scheme does not cover mental health care treatments, Ohene said.

And while traditional healers are still pervasive, Ohene said the country’s mental health authority is working to educate people about mental illness and modern treatment options and has also mandated that every regional hospital must have a mental health care unit.

As such challenges persist, both Yaro and Ohene maintain hope sourced from the strength of their mission: supporting patients as they manage their mental health.

“They should find fulfillment and live a life of dignity that everybody should have as a human being,” Yaro said.

The post Glimmers of Hope for People in Ghana Living with Mental Illness appeared first on Direct Relief.

Despite an expansion in health insurance coverage nationally over the past decade, the percentage of people in the U.S. without health insurance has risen from 12.7 two years ago to 15.5 percent, or more than one in six persons, according to the Commonwealth Fund.

For people lacking insurance and living with a chronic illness like diabetes, forgoing medication can be life-threatening. That means patients with little or no income require other means of accessing treatment.

Programs do exist to ease the financial barriers to healthcare for people who meet specific criteria. According to the Partnership for Prescription Assistance, more than 400 assistance programs offer medicines at no cost or discounted rates to qualified individuals, and biopharmaceutical companies offer nearly 200 of these programs.

Removing Barriers for Those Most in Need of Assistance

While such patients assistance programs, or PAPs, are a critical component of the nation’s healthcare safety net, their sheer number and the typical arrangement –under which each must be separately applied for, adjudicated, and administered – can present navigational challenges for patients, particularly for those who rely on multiple medications to manage a chronic condition. PAPs can also place a strain on the healthcare providers responsible for enrolling patients, one medication at a time, one company at a time.

“When patients have to fill prescriptions at different pharmacies and through individual patient assistance programs, the benefits of using a single pharmacy are lost, said Debbie Kinder, Chief Operating Officer of the medication assistance program at Welvista, a nonprofit pharmacy in Columbia, South Carolina serving uninsured patients throughout the state.

To help streamline the process, remove redundancies, and ease the administrative burden for patients and healthcare providers alike, Direct Relief launched an initiative 10 years ago with several companies and nonprofit safety-net healthcare providers as an alternative to the traditional patient assistance model.

“A treatment is only as good as the system that delivers it,” said Joseph Visaggio, Executive Director, U.S. Group Patient Assistance Programs at Novartis Corporation. “Novartis therefore seeks opportunities to strengthen healthcare systems and lower local barriers to healthcare delivery, working in collaboration with partners such as Direct Relief.”

Rather than requiring each patient – and the patient’s healthcare provider – to apply to a separate program for each manufacturer’s prescriptions, Direct Relief began enrolling safety-net health centers, clinics, and charitable pharmacies at the facility level after ensuring that the nonprofit facilities had strong controls and procedures in place to identify patients who meet all companies’ eligibility requirements.

“We believe the Direct Relief model, which supports non-profit healthcare facilities, can help provide quality patient care in areas where we can collectively have the greatest impact,” said Visaggio.

Better Care, Improved Service, Lower Cost, Stronger Controls

By working with healthcare manufacturers directly, Direct Relief equips providers with medications from multiple companies for their patients through a single source and replenishes those medications, bottle for bottle, based on the prior month’s usage. This approach allows medications to be available to healthcare providers to dispense at the time of their patients’ visit, when they receive a diagnosis and a prescription.

Beyond the important patient-care benefit of receiving a medication when needed are other advantages stemming from the focus on strengthening the nonprofit facilities’ controls and procedures to determine all patients’ insurance status, including their income status upon which eligibility for public insurance such as Medicaid is based. The approach ensures that persons eligible for Medicaid or other public health insurance may be properly enrolled, while also identifying others who are eligible for multiple companies’ patient assistance programs, thus eliminating the need for filling out multiple, time-consuming individual patient applications.

“The ability to have prescriptions filled at no cost is a tremendous benefit for our patients and we are grateful to Direct Relief for their assistance,” said Trudy Pacheco, Director of Grant and Project Development at Miami Beach Community Health Center. The facility serves a population that is predominately low-income with high rates of chronic disease.

“Eli Lilly and Company’s long-standing support of Direct Relief’s initiative to provide donated Lilly medicines to safety-net clinics reflects our belief in the incredible impact of this organization,” said Steve Stapleton, Director, Lilly Patient Assistance Programs. “It also reflects our company’s commitment to improve access to quality healthcare for those with limited resources.”

Over that period, the program delivered over 300,000 prescriptions for more than 63,000 patients, helping treat a variety of medical conditions including hypertension, cardiovascular disease, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, hormone replacement, mental health, and ocular health.

Since the initial pilot launched 10 years ago, companies such as AbbVie, Abbott, Novartis, Eli Lilly, and Johnson & Johnson, have signed on, and the program has expanded to include 55 facilities and 70 delivery sites across 22 states. Direct Relief has leveraged the success of the model to implement a similar program with Medicines360 to provide IUDs to women’s health clinics in the U.S.

“It’s a privilege for Direct Relief to work so closely with both our nonprofit colleagues at health centers, clinics, and pharmacies who provide care every day for people with very limited means who need help and with leading companies that lean in to provide it,” said Damon Taugher, Director of U.S. Programs for Direct Relief. “The needs that exist and the clear potential shown by this collaborative effort provides daily inspiration to look for different ways to accomplish the important goals we all share to help our neighbors in the most efficient, productive way possible.”

Reducing Administrative Burden, Costs of Assisting Patients in Need

In the absence of Direct Relief’s program, the 63,000 patients that have received needed medications at no charge would each have been required to complete, together with the prescribing healthcare professional, separate applications for each company’s assistance program. Most patients receive a medication from more than one of the participating companies, so the number of applications and related adjudications otherwise required would have exceeded 100,000 under the most conservative estimate model. The enrollment of 55 facilities with appropriate internal controls versus the alternative of 100,000 individual applications and related adjudications from patients at those very same facilities reflects the enormous reduction in administrative barriers and costs that have been achieved.

“Our patient and medication demand have increased tremendously and our partnership with Direct Relief ensures we are able to meet the increasing demand as well as streamline our replenishment process,” said Welvista’s Kinder. “Direct Relief helps us fulfill our mission every day. We are so grateful for our partnership.”

The post “A Treatment is Only as Good as the System That Delivers It”  appeared first on Direct Relief.

The Direct Relief-chartered MD-11 cargo jet contained $21 million (wholesale) in donated medical resources from 44 companies (full list of companies below), including extensive quantities of intravenous solutions and prescription medications for acute conditions and chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension that can rapidly become medical emergencies if not managed. 

“This airlift will go a long way towards helping our fellow Americans in Puerto Rico, and I am eternally grateful to Direct Relief and all of the organizations involved,” said President Bill Clinton, 42nd President of the United States, and founder and board chair of the Clinton Foundation. “Their efforts are a reminder that when so many people need our help, our common humanity matters even more.”

The Clinton Foundation has supported Direct Relief’s work for years, including the recovery efforts after the 2010 Haiti earthquake and the response to the Ebola epidemic in West Africa in 2014. In the response to the Caribbean hurricanes this year, the Clinton Foundation has helped to coordinate and advise the team at Direct Relief.

Businesses Step Up to Fill Resource Gap

Direct Relief works with dozens of healthcare companies’ philanthropic arms on an ongoing basis to address public health needs and humanitarian crises across the globe and in all 50 U.S. states.  This private philanthropic support from businesses, as well as philanthropic support from individuals, foundations, and organizations has enabled a massively stepped-up response to assist in Puerto Rico, where health services have been severely constricted by the extensive damage caused by Hurricane Maria.

44 companies joined in filling specific requests that Direct Relief received from nonprofit health centers, government facilities, and private hospitals in Puerto Rico – all of which have been struggling to restore and expand services to care for the island’s more than 3 million residents.

“Direct Relief has been a wonderful partner for Eli Lilly and Company,” said Rob Smith, senior director of corporate responsibility and president of the Eli Lilly and Company Foundation.  “We have worked together to get insulin to those impacted by the devastating effects of Hurricane Maria.  Lilly could not ask for a more capable, responsive, and compassionate partner.  We are so grateful for all of the things Direct Relief is doing to help the great people of Puerto Rico recover from this terrible disaster.”

The medicines and supplies on the flight were donated by the following companies:

3M; Abbott; AbbVie; Alcon; Allergan plc; Amneal Pharmaceuticals; Apotex Inc.; AstraZeneca; Baxter International Inc.; Bayer; BD; Boehringer Ingelheim Cares Foundation; Bristol-Myers Squibb; Cera Products, Inc.; Cipla; Coola Suncare; CVS; DayOne Response; Ethicon; GSK; Henry Schein, Inc.; Integra LifeSciences; InTouch Health; Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson; Kaléo; LifeScan; Magno-Humphries Labs; Medtronic; Merck & Co., Inc.; Mylan; Nephron Pharmaceuticals Corporation; Noble Laboratories, Inc.; Novartis; Pfizer Inc.; Prestige Brands; Sagent Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Sanofi Foundation for NA; Sappo Hill Soapworks; Starbucks; Teva Pharmaceuticals, USA; Trividia Health; Vaseline; Wisconsin Pharmacal Company. 

Responding to an Unprecedented Hurricane Season

Today’s airlift follows several weeks of smaller-scale airlifts and hand-carried medications and emergency medical resources to dozens of Puerto Rico’s nonprofit health centers and medical teams organized by the Puerto Rico Department of Health.

Among the critical items has been 565 vials of blood-clotting factor for children with hemophilia, 15,600 vials of insulin, 35 pre-kitted emergency medical packs containing a broad range of Rx medications and supplies, as well as 1500 solar lights and over 4000 bottles of insect repellant to protect against Zika virus.

Direct Relief’s response in Puerto Rico has been concurrent with extensive responses to Hurricanes Harvey and Irma that preceded Maria.

Since Hurricane Harvey’s landfall on August 25, Direct Relief has sent 148 tons of medications, vaccines, and medical supplies valued at $64.7 million (wholesale) and including 19 million defined daily doses of Rx medications delivered via 560 emergency shipments to 143 partner organizations in Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico, USVI and seven Caribbean countries.

In addition, Direct Relief has provided and committed financial support in the form of grants totaling over $2.7 million to 43 nonprofit health centers and clinics and their primary care associations in Texas, Florida, and Puerto Rico.

The post 76-Ton Airlift of Medicine and Medical Supplies Lands in Puerto Rico   appeared first on Direct Relief.

More than 1 million people in Haiti are still in need due to the hurricane, and disease remains rampant, with almost 4,000 cholera cases reported since Oct. 4.

Direct Relief was quick to respond to healthcare partners after the storm and will continue to do so through the recovery.

Financial Summary

Direct Relief received more than 3,000 Hurricane Matthew-designated financial contributions totaling $827,962; including pledges, the total increases to $1,071,266.

Direct Relief recognizes that the generous supporters who pledged and gave more than $1 million in response to Hurricane Matthew did so with the express intent that their contributions benefit people affected by the storm.

In accepting funds for Hurricane Matthew, Direct Relief understands that both those who contributed — and the people for whose benefit the contributions were made — deserve to know, in detail, how Direct Relief is using these funds.

*Direct Relief does not rely on government funding.

The Response

As the world’s attention shifts, Direct Relief remains committed to supporting the needs of local healthcare providers in Haiti and the U.S.

United States

Direct Relief shipped $1.3 million worth of supplies to impacted communities in the U.S. after Matthew. Five tons of medicines and medical supplies were sent in 29 different shipments.

Before the storm made landfall, Direct Relief had prepositioned emergency medical modules in the hurricane’s path. Two were opened after the storm, one at the Roanoke Chowan Community Health Center in North Carolina, and another at the Franklin C. Fetter Health Care Network in South Carolina.

Each U.S.–bound pack contains enough medicines and supplies to treat 100 patients for three to five days after a hurricane hits.

Haiti

Roadways and bridges were washed away by the storm, and some of the hardest-hit communities in the southwestern part of the country also proved the most difficult to access. In the following weeks, Direct Relief used any means possible to transport aid, including by helicopters and ships.

Since Oct. 4, Direct Relief delivered $10 million worth of medicines and medical supplies to Haiti – nearly 20 tons. That included more than half a million daily doses of medication.

Material Support

Below is a list of companies that contributed medical resources to the response.

Looking Forward

Cholera persists as a life-threatening force in the country, and Direct Relief will continue to supply partners with supplies to treat this preventable, but deadly, disease. Direct Relief is continuing to deliver shipments of oral rehydration salts, IV equipment and other needed supplies.

The next delivery is scheduled to arrive in the coming days with more than 500,000 water purification sachets. Each sachet can clean 10 liters of drinking water. In total, the shipment will result in nearly 1.5 million gallons of safe drinking water.

The shipment will also contain oral rehydration salts, which can be mixed with the purified water to restore the electrolytes of a dehydrated person.

The post Hurricane Matthew: The Response Continues appeared first on Direct Relief.

Not only did the floodwaters tear homes from their foundations, but it broke gas lines, causing some buildings to engulf in flames.

While floodwaters have since receded, the recovery has just begun for many of West Virginia residents.

Direct Relief’s Response:

In the early hours of the emergency, Direct Relief offered immediate assistance to its existing network of healthcare partners in the affected region, as well as the West Virginia Primary Care Association. Requests for assistance came in right away, with partners expressing an urgent need for a large volume of supplies.

As of July 13, Direct Relief has provided the following health centers and clinics with 40 shipments of Rx medications, vaccines, diabetic supplies and insulin, and personal care items, along with emergency medical kits designed to equip health facilities with the medicines resources required to meet the needs of patients immediately after natural or manmade disaster.

• Access Health, a health center based in Raleigh County, was severely impacted by flooding. Still, the health center’s staff have operated a free clinic for flood victims at its Williamsburg location as well as a mobile pharmacy to reach the worst-hit flood areas. Access Health has also provided tetanus vaccinations (Tdap) to highway workers and patients and has partnered with the National Guard to distribute generators and supplies to families in need. To support their efforts, Direct Relief delivered an emergency health kit — a set of essential medicines and supplies designed for emergencies such as this.
• Cabin Creek Health Systems operates four clinic sites across West Virginia, one of which was severely impacted by the floods and, consequentially, experience an urgent need for Tdap, which Direct Relief provided. Direct Relief also provided medicine to another of Cabin Creek’s clinics, 30 miles from Clendenin Health Center.
• Roane County Family Health Care, a Direct Relief partner since 2009, has partnered with the West Virginia Primary Care Association to organize outreach efforts throughout the southern part of Roane County, where they have visited shelters to provide medical care and distribute supplies, including those delivered by Direct Relief.
• West Virginia Health Right, a free clinic in Charleston, has provided medical relief services throughout West Virginia’s most impacted areas. The clinic building has doubled as a large distribution hub for medical supplies throughout the community.

A photo posted by WVPB (@wvpublic) on Jun 24, 2016 at 6:26am PDT

Partners in Relief

The medical supplies, valued at more than $1 million, were donated by more than 25 companies. They include the following:

• 3M
• AbbVie
• Actavis
• Allergan
• Apotex
• AstraZeneca
• Baxter
• BD
• Boehringer Ingelheim
• Calmoseptine
• Colgate
• Covidien
• CVS
• GSK

• Henry Schein
• J&J (Janssen, J&J Consumer, LifeScan)
• Medtronic
• MedVantx
• Merck
• Pfizer
• Prestige
• Sanofi
• Sappo Hill
• Takeda
• Terry Town
• TEVA
• Unilever

Updated 17:27 PT, July 13, 2016

The post West Virginia: Flood Response appeared first on Direct Relief.

The International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) and Direct Relief have signed an agreement in Washington D.C. to expand and enhance the care provided to women receiving surgical repair for obstetric fistula, a devastating birth injury that occurs overwhelmingly in developing countries and typically leaves women socially ostracized and destitute in addition to physically injured.

FIGO, the standard-setting body for obstetric and gynecological care internationally, has developed a Global Competency-Based Fistula Surgery Training Manual to ensure quality of care for the repair of obstetric fistula.  Direct Relief, a nonprofit organization that is among the world’s largest providers of humanitarian medical material aid, has developed a complementary module of essential surgical supplies that are required to perform repair surgeries to the highest standards, consistent with the FIGO-identified competencies.

Obstetric fistula is a serious and debilitating childbirth injury primarily caused by prolonged and obstructed labor. In most cases of obstructed labor in which a fistula develops, the baby is stillborn. If untreated, a woman with obstetric fistula often will be left incontinent, stigmatized, and isolated as a result.  It is estimated that more than one million women across the globe are currently living with fistula, and this condition can be treated and often cured through what is often a simple surgical procedure.

However, in areas where obstetric fistula is most prevalent, women with the debilitating condition lack access to life-changing surgical care. Limited surgical capacity generally, even more limited specialized surgical training on fistula repair, and the costs of surgical supplies needed for the procedures are key factors that prevent access.

Direct Relief’s Fistula Repair Module, which contains a standardized set of high-quality medicines and surgical supplies, is the product of a multi-year collaboration between Direct Relief and an extensive network of fistula surgeons, nurses, physiotherapists, infectious disease specialists, fistula advocacy and funding organizations, other experienced medical professionals, and healthcare companies.

Sized to equip 50 fistula repair surgeries, each module contains medications such as antibiotics, analgesics, drugs for anesthesia, and marker dye; surgical supplies such as gloves, sutures, instruments, and catheters; nursing supplies including gauze, IV catheters, and surgical tape; and basic diagnostic equipment such as thermometers and blood pressure kits.

The Modules, valued at $5,000 or roughly $100 per surgical procedure, are delivered free-of-charge to approved members of Direct Relief’s Fistula Repair Provider Network, which now encompasses 55 healthcare institutions in 23 countries.  Several products included in the Module are donated by healthcare companies, including Ansell (surgical gloves), BD (needles and syringes), Bard (catheters), Johnson & Johnson companies Ethicon (sutures) and Janssen (bladder control medications), and Merck (bladder medication), as well as donations of consumer health products requested by fistula surgeons, such as Vaseline from Unilever.

Direct Relief has been supporting healthcare facilities with donations of essential medical supplies to help enable fistula repair surgeries since 2003, and each year the program has continued to expand and extend its reach.  Also, in partnership with the Fistula Foundation and UNFPA, Direct Relief publishes and maintains the Global Fistula Hub to aggregate and visualize information regarding obstetric fistula incidence, research, and surgical repair activities.

In 2015, Direct Relief delivered 60 modules – enough to enable 3,000 life-restoring surgeries for women in need – to facilities in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.In 2016, Direct Relief will be providing enough modules for over 5,000 surgeries.About FIGO:Established in 1954 in Geneva, Switzerland, FIGO was founded to bring professional obstetrical and gynecological associations from all over the world together to improve women’s health and rights and to reduce disparities in healthcare services available to women and newborns, as well as to advance the science and practice of obstetrics and gynecology. For more than 60 years, the organization has pursued its mission through advocacy, programmatic activities, capacity strengthening of member associations, education, and training. Now based in London, FIGO currently has members associations in 130 countries and territories across the globe.

The post FIGO and Direct Relief Join to Expand, Improve Obstetric Fistula Repair Surgery appeared first on Direct Relief.

Haitian First Lady Sophia Martelly and Health Minister Florence Duperval Guillaume were on site today to announce the distribution of treatment kits to centers around the country.

The shipment, designated for Haiti’s 904 Public Health and Population sites and Direct Relief’s other partner hospitals, contains more than 6.1 million Defined Daily Doses of pain relievers, oral rehydration packs, antibiotics, IV solution, malaria tablets, and mosquito spray. This distribution comes in the midst of a rainy season, expected to cause a wave of new cases.

Unlike many other mosquito-borne diseases, no vaccine is available to prevent chikungunya. Common symptoms include fever and joint pain, which is often severe and disabling.

The current outbreak, which began in late 2013, marked the arrival of chikungunya in the Americas. It was first detected in Haiti in May and its spread prompted the Haitian government to formally declare a medical emergency. Health officials anticipate that up to 50 percent of the population may be affected by the outbreak. To date, Haiti has recorded roughly 65,000 cases.

Generic pharmaceutical company Apotex generously donated more than $2.2 million of the $2.6 million (wholesale) in medical aid included in this delivery.

“When a fast-spreading virus like chikungunya impacts people who already struggle to access health care, it is important to provide hospitals and clinics with the supplies they need to meet the growing demand for care,” said Jeff Watson, Apotex’s President, US and Canada (Apotex Corp/Aveva/Apotex Inc.). “Apotex is in a position to help, and we are delighted to work with Direct Relief to fill those gaps.”

Other contributors to this response include Generic Pharmaceutical Association (GPHA) members Amneal, Hospira, and TEVA Pharmaceuticals, along with 3M, Johnson & Johnson, McNeil, McKesson, and Prestige Brands.

Since Haiti’s devastating earthquake in 2010, Direct Relief has worked with the Haitian Ministry of Public Health and Population to deliver more than $120 million in medical aid throughout the country.

Click here to support shipments like these. Your donations enable deliveries of life-saving medical supplies to people in need.

The post Medicine to Treat One Million People Arrives in Haiti appeared first on Direct Relief.

Twice a year volunteers assemble the packs, which are distributed to 30 social service agencies throughout the county who assist local individuals and low-income families. Some very special volunteers came out to pack on Friday.

For 11-year-old Jackson Wooten and his mom, Maureen Wooten, packing the kits was a way for them to give back after they found themselves in need eight years ago while living in Biloxi, Mississippi when Hurricane Katrina devastated the city, damaging many of their family and friends’ homes.

“These are the same products we got [after Katrina],” said Jackson. “I wanted to help others like we were helped.”

Also among the volunteer packers was a crew of five employees from Sappo Hill Soapworks, who have donated all-natural soaps for the Care Packs for the last nine years. The drove more than 10 hours from Ashland, Oregon just to be a part of the event and see first-hand how their donations are making a difference.

“When I found out about Direct Relief, I knew it was an organization we wanted to support,” said Sappo Hill’s Stacey Miller.

She said their team was thrilled to come to Direct Relief’s headquarters and that they’re excited to continue supporting the work in whatever way they can. In addition to Sappo Hill’s soaps, this season’s packs were made possible with products donated from Chattem Inc., Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies, Prestige Brands as well as generous support from the Wells Fargo Foundation and Wood-Claeyssens Foundation.

Direct Relief has worked to improve the health and lives of people locally in Santa Barbara for 50 years. Find out more about other local programs at this link: http://j.mp/RJiXF0

The post Volunteers Organize Care Packs for Neighbors in Need appeared first on Direct Relief.

The team arrived to a steady flow of patients as the William F. Ryan – NENA Community Health Center, located in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, opened for its first full day with power back on in a week. The Direct Relief crew  met first with health center staff to discuss how their clinic weathered the storm.

Soon after, the team was on hand to greet the first FedEx truck and help unload a two-part emergency shipment from Direct Relief of Abbott nutritional supplies as well as 350 personal care packs, filled with basic hygiene items provided by Johnson & Johnson, Neutrogena and Prestige Brands.

With the help of clinic staff, by late morning Direct Relief had distributed all of the items to clinic patients, many of whom reported they have not been able to make food at home or keep food properly refrigerated and thus were in critical need of ready-to-eat nutritional supplements such as the PediaSure and Pedialyte for children, and Ensure and ZonePerfect bars for adults.

Patients expressed gratitude for the personal care supplies as many evacuated their homes quickly due to flooding and power outages, leaving basic items behind.

After a second FedEx shipment arrived with similar supplies, the Direct Relief and Ryan-NENA team prepared for a second distribution set for 2 p.m. This time, word had spread throughout the tight-knit community of the health center patients, and the line wrapped around the block with people eagerly awaiting the much-needed supplies.

The line grew so long that before the start of the afternoon distribution, the clinic passed out numbers to those waiting in line and people were allowed into the lobby in increments of 15 to receive the supplies. Instructions to only take one personal care pack per family were given in three different languages over a megaphone to the crowd waiting outside.

Within an hour, all of the supplies were gone.  Many had to be turned away, so Direct Relief is sending additional shipments. Direct Relief estimates that around 500 people received products.

Ryan-NENA Executive Director, Kathy Gruber, said more items are likely needed as the patient population the health center serves is still in desperate need of basic items.

Direct Relief is working on the ground with partners on the East Coast  for the remainder of the week to assess needs and facilitate the delivery of much needed supplies.

A requested delivery of various medicines and supplies, including diabetic supplies, asthma medications, wound supplies, antibiotics, and insulin arrived today at Ann Silverman Community Clinic in Doylestown, Pa. and email offers of assistance have been sent to nine partners in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.

More requested Direct Relief shipments are set to arrive tomorrow at three nonprofit community health centers in New York and New Jersey. The on-the-ground team will be on hand at Newark Community Health Centers in Newark, N.J. tomorrow to help distribute another FedEx shipment of requested nutritional supplies and personal care items.

The post Hurricane Sandy: New Yorkers in Need Receive Urgent Supplies appeared first on Direct Relief.

Direct Relief is the only nonprofit licensed to distribute prescription medications in all 50 U.S. states. In the past year alone, Direct Relief has delivered 5,000 shipments to its network of more than 1,000 nonprofit clinics and health centers nationwide. The organization runs the largest nonprofit program in the U.S. providing free medications and supplies to health centers treating low-income patients without insurance.

Since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, when Direct Relief was the single largest nonprofit provider of medical material aid in the affected Gulf States, the organization also has run an extensive hurricane preparedness program that pre-positions medical essentials with hospitals in the Caribbean and nonprofit clinics in hurricane-prone areas of the U.S.

“Direct Relief is acutely sensitive to the needs of those who are most vulnerable in emergency situations such as this, and we are working closely with partner nonprofit clinics and health centers in the affected areas that serve people who are vulnerable every day to understand what is needed and mobilize charitable resources to help address those needs,” said President and CEO, Thomas Tighe.

Among the immediate concerns in the aftermath of the storm and the mass evacuations it has caused is the risk of health crises arising among people who fled their residences without medications to manage their chronic health conditions.

While the massive property and economic losses are enormous and remain to be assessed, Direct Relief will focus its efforts on immediate and near-term support for the health facilities that serve people who rely on the nonprofit health safety net for essential primary care services.

Several corporate contributors to Direct Relief’s USA activities, including Abbott, BD, Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson, and Teva, stepped forward in the past several days to offer their support with specific medical, nutritional, and personal care items that may be needed by people and communities affected by the storm.

Additionally, longtime supporter, FedEx, has generously offered to provide in-kind transportation services to help send medical supplies to treat those affected by the storm. Direct Relief also benefitted from extensive operational support during the crisis from Palo Alto-based technology company, Palantir, that has enabled multiple streams of information to be organized, visualized, and analyzed to provide situational assessments and inform planning and response.

“The initial $250,000 commitment is being made because we understand that financial pressures hit nonprofit clinics and health centers and their patients particularly hard – they both typically have very little if any financial cushion to fall back on,” said Tighe. “If we receive additional support for Hurricane Sandy, the funds will be spent exclusively for this purpose.”

The post Direct Relief Commits $250,000 for Hurricane Sandy Relief and Recovery Efforts appeared first on Direct Relief.

Santa Barbara, CA (March 8, 2012): Direct Relief USA, the country’s only non-profit provider of free medicines to clinics and health centers in all 50 states, today announced that Abbott, Johnson & Johnson Patient Assistance Foundation, Inc., and Novartis Patient Assistance Foundation, Inc. have joined a new model of charitable donations of medications for people without health insurance.

Nonprofit Direct Relief USA, which provides medical donations to a network of more than 1,000 nonprofit community clinics and health centers nationwide, announced that the three organizations are participating in a five-state pilot program to donate medicines on a replenishment basis to uninsured, low-income patients. This model is based on a successful pilot conducted in recent years with Abbott.

The expanded pilot initiative announced today will provide needed medications to patients at ten nonprofit clinics and health centers that collectively serve 268,476 patients in medically underserved areas. Nationwide, it is estimated that more than 20 million patients receive primary health care services at community-based nonprofit facilities, which include Federally Qualified Health Centers and free clinics.
“This replenishment model brings new efficiencies to charitable efforts to help patients at clinics and health centers get the medications they need on an ongoing basis,” said Damon Taugher, Director of Direct Relief USA.

“We are pleased that nonprofit safety-net clinics, their uninsured patients, and companies’ charitable resources can each leverage Direct Relief’s unique status as the only nonprofit licensed to distribute medications in all 50 states, the robust information and distribution systems, and extensive network that we have built for this purpose,” said Taugher.

Direct Relief USA provided more than $54 million (valued at wholesale acquisition cost) worth of medicine to its network of clinics and health centers in 2011. Direct Relief was awarded the 2011 Peter F. Drucker Award for Nonprofit Innovation for its aggressive adaptation of commercial technology for humanitarian purposes.

Direct Relief’s program focuses on high concentrations of uninsured patients in America’s nonprofit safety net clinics and health centers and complements existing traditional patient assistance programs (PAPs) through which individual companies provide free or discounted prescription medicine to low-income, uninsured patients.
The benefits of the new approach of the Replenishment Program increases efficiencies through a scalable platform, through which multiple companies participate in a program designed to enhance patient care through a streamlined process. The program aims to:

• Improve the way patients receive medications at clinics and health centers;
• Streamline the clinics’ administrative processes spent on PAP enrollment and dispensing;
• Maximize efficiencies in providing donated medicines to patients;
• Provide a scalable platform for a national program accessible to additional pharmaceutical companies and recipient clinics.

For participating nonprofit clinics and health centers, which must demonstrate rigorous internal controls for drug dispensing and recordkeeping, the program provides a single point of access to multiple pharmaceutical companies’ drugs. This eliminates the need to manage numerous programs and submit duplicative applications for individual medications, which enables redirection of scarce clinical resources from administrative tasks for improved patient care.

Abbott, Johnson & Johnson Patient Assistance Foundation, Inc., and Novartis Patient Assistance Foundation, Inc. will provide prescription drugs that will assist healthcare providers in the treatment of patients with cardiovascular disease, hypertension, hypothyroidism, neurological disease, mental health disease, HIV/AIDS, infection and other conditions. Recipient clinics will be better equipped to care for their patients by offering them much-needed continuity of care.

“Direct Relief’s Replenishment Program streamlines our ability to provide high-quality care to the patients we serve,” said Sharon Ng, Pharmacy Director of Venice Family Clinic in Venice, California. “With a significant reduction in paperwork and with fewer packages to receive, unpack and update into our inventory, we are able to spend more time with our patients and less time on the administrative component of traditional patient assistance programs. The timesavings provided to us through the Replenishment Program helps keep costs low and patient care the main focus.”

The Replenishment Program will support ten clinics in California, Washington, Texas, Michigan, and Florida.

About Direct Relief International

Direct Relief is California’s largest medical relief organization, active in all 50 states and over 70 countries. It works with more than 1,000 health clinics across the U.S. to assist in emergencies and an ongoing basis, providing them with free medications for people in need. The organization has been among the world’s largest medical suppliers in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake, has top charity ratings, including four-star and “top-notch” rating from Charity Navigator, and a 100% fundraising efficiency rating from Forbes magazine. For more information, please visit www.DirectRelief.org.

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Today is the final day of the International Society of Obstetric Fistula Surgeons (ISOFS) meeting in Dakar, Senegal. It has been an incredibly busy few days as fistula surgeons and health professionals have come together to share diverse experiences, research findings, and recommendations for improving quality of treatment, management, and prevention of obstetric fistula. Representatives from more than 40 countries are participating in the conference, all sharing the common goal of working to improve fistula care and a vision for eradication of this preventable condition due to failures in maternal health care.

Representing Direct Relief, I have had the unique opportunity to engage with many of the preeminent fistula surgeons in the world. Many of the pioneers in the field are here, surgeons who have dedicated their careers to treating women with fistula, training other surgeons, and spearheading research to improve the outcomes for fistula care. Many more youthful faces from the next generation are here—motivated, committed, primarily African surgeons from all parts of the continent have come to learn from each other and improve their expertise in a region where the burden of obstetric fistula is highest.

The surgeons provide an essential service for helping restore the dignity of women living with obstetric fistula. Also present are advocates, community organizers, and public health professionals who are addressing the important areas of prevention of fistula through improved obstetric care and also social reintegration of women back into their communities after their physical wound has been healed. This community recognizes that it is simply not enough to surgically repair the fistula and send a woman on her way after she has lived often for many years with a highly stigmatizing and socially humiliating condition. The conference theme acknowledges the increased effort which must be made not only to treat the physical condition but to ensure that women can return to normal, healthy lives in their community.

A great deal of good work is being done by many organizations across Africa and Asia to address obstetric fistula. A shared understanding of exactly where these services are located and the current capacity for treatment remains elusive. Direct Relief is working together with ISOFS and the Fistula Foundation to help illuminate this information in a way that is accessible to all stakeholders.  Using our experience in GIS (geographic information systems) technology, Direct Relief hopes to help create powerful tool for everyone in the fistula care community—to understand the current landscape for treatment, help identify unmet need, and provide a tool to guide decisions on future resource and service allocation.

Direct Relief is currently providing surgical supplies to support fistula-repair programs in seven hospitals across Africa, many of which are represented here.  It is clear through the level of engagement at this conference – and by the preliminary results of the fistula treatment mapping – that there are many more facilities where surgical supplies are needed. Working together with healthcare companies like Johnson & Johnson, Ethicon, Covidien, and CR Bard, Direct Relief hopes to support more surgeons so they have the supplies they need to do this valuable work.

This gathering has reassured my confidence in Direct Relief’s decision in making fistula care and prevention a central part of its maternal health strategy over the next five years. There is a lot of good momentum and energy here at this conference. We all agree that a lot remains to be done.

Now off to the closing ceremony and to the work ahead!

The post United in Prevention appeared first on Direct Relief.

The module, which J&J donated to Direct Relief for exactly this purpose, has been staged at our Santa Barbara warehouse for immediate deployment when needed.  The module included most-needed items such as ointment, bandages, and sutures.  As news reports have indicated, the need is extreme in Pakistan, with millions of people displaced by flooding and affected by standing and contaminated water.

Along with the emergency module, ARC is receiving other needed products pulled from Direct Relief’s standing inventory, which it has specifically requested, including antifungal medicines, amoxicillin, and multivitamins. With cholera, malaria, and infections showing up in their patient populations, ARC has specifically requested these items to help treat these prevalent conditions.

In addition to delivering medical aid now totaling $525,000, Direct Relief has also facilitated in-country donations from Abbott Labs in Pakistan of needed product to ARC and Marie Stopes Society Pakistan to expedite relief efforts in the emergency response.

The post Direct Relief Delivering $190,000 in Medical Aid to Pakistan appeared first on Direct Relief.

I woke up this morning to thunder rattling the window panes. Unlike yesterday’s brief and powerful storm, the rain has not stopped falling for the past two hours. I keep thinking about Gloria’s family in their small tin shell of a home. I hope it’s not raining in Snake Park.

Conditions in many townships of Soweto have improved markedly in the last few years—in the vast, sprawling area of 3 million some are living rather comfortably. Homes have TVs, running water, a gas stove. But you don’t travel far before you meet abject urban poverty. Our visit yesterday in the Soweto township known locally as Snake Park illustrated how dire the situation is for many, particularly those who are sick and poor.

The dark sky has been threatening rain for an hour, but the deluge starts just as we enter the final home of the day. I watch Sr. Freda and Wilhelmina, Soweto Hospice’s nurse and community health worker, offer words of support to their patient Gloria when  the downpour on the tin roof becomes deafening. The conversation fades as the sound of the rain overtakes the small space. Gloria’s daughters hurry to place small containers around the one-room home to catch the rain falling through the holes in the roof. The small puddles outside quickly turn to muddy rivers that begin to rush through the settlement. Twenty minutes pass and the rain stops as quickly as it has begun.  Sr. Freda and Wilhelmina say their parting words to Gloria and we pick our way through the mud back to our 4×4 vehicle and wave goodbye.  Freda and Wilhelmina are already thinking about when they’ll be able to come back—to bring a lifeline to Gloria and her family, to ensure she has adequate support to live comfortably with HIV in this terribly impoverished neighborhood of Soweto.

We are in Snake Park. The name conjures up a wild, inhospitable place. Nearly a decade ago, informal settlements started appearing in the grassy fields, apparently the original home to a number of resident snakes.  It didn’t take long before the fields were overtaken with tin shacks, the homes of tens of thousands of people who couldn’t afford to live anywhere else. I’m told that the government’s Reconstruction and Development Program is  undertaking infrastructure improvements here to provide better housing, water, and sanitation. Unfortunately, this is not at all apparent from Gloria’s neighborhood.

Gloria was diagnosed with HIV in 2006. Freda, a specialized nurse with six years of training, received a call from Gloria’s brother in 2007 and was asked to come by for a visit. When they first met, Gloria was very sick and barely able to care for herself. Since then, Freda has provided support all along the way through the many ups and downs in managing Gloria’s illness. This week Gloria is feeling relatively well, but she still has some chest pain and is coughing a fair amount. Last week Freda referred her to get a sputum test for tuberculosis and she is still awaiting her result. There is a good chance Gloria has TB, as co-infection among HIV patients is very high.

Gloria adheres closely to the antiretroviral regimen therapy she receives for free from the government. However, without a consistent supply of food, she struggles to remain healthy. The family has no source of income aside from the small government grant that her eldest daughter receives for her child. This is less than $28 a month to feed a family of five–not remotely enough.  Her HIV drugs will not have the maximum benefit if she is not able to keep herself well nourished. Food scarcity also affects her family. Her eldest daughter has epilepsy and had a seizure last time Freda visited. When asked if she took her medicine, she admitted she had not because it made her ill to take it on an empty stomach, and there was no food with which she could take it.

During their near-weekly visits, Freda and Wilhelmina often bring food if the hospice has it available. It is not always possible, because the hospice itself is very strapped for resources as it attempts to care for over 1,250 patients at home and many more in their pediatric and adult in-patient units for those requiring around-the-clock care. Gloria is just one of Freda’s 250 patients to which she provides home- based palliative care. But in Soweto, a township of 3 million, there are undoubtedly many people that cannot be reached.

Soweto Hospice is a member of the Hospice Palliative Care Association of South Africa (HPCA), an umbrella organization that provides financial and technical support to develop the capacity of its more than 150 member hospices. The hospice and palliative care approach is to improve the quality of life of patients and their families facing a life-threatening illness through prevention and relief of suffering. In sub-Saharan Africa, over 90 percent of patients have HIV/AIDS. Fortunately, with the support of nurses and community health workers like Freda and Wilhelmina, many HIV patients in hospice care are becoming healthier and learning to manage their illness as a chronic condition that can be kept under control. Direct Relief has supported the efforts of HPCA and its member hospices by providing donations of medical supplies which are needed in home-based settings and in-patient units. Wound care dressings, through support of Johnson and Johnson, are currently being distributed throughout the HPCA network.

The amount of compassion and commitment shown by the hospice and palliative care staff is admirable. With very limited resources they are managing to uplift many to good health and provide relief from suffering and pain for those that are nearing the end of their lives. They are just touching the surface of caring for people living with HIV, but they are wholly dedicated to providing the best care they possibly can.

The post Improving Quality of Life for HIV/AIDS Patients and Family appeared first on Direct Relief.

The cash commitment, enabled in part by donations from over 7,500 individual contributors who contributed via Google Checkout, will be used to furnish essential medical material to health facilities in Myanmar and partner organizations providing health services to people affected by the cyclone that struck last week.

The intial infusion of medical resources includes supplies to provide 21,300 courses of treatment for patients with bacterial and upper respiratory infections, dehydration, diarrhea, cholera and other water-borne diseases, as well as basic instruments and materials for wound care and other trauma needs.  The materials were specifically requested by in-country facilities run by a colleague nonprofit organization, which obtained clearance to receive and distribute the materials.

Direct Relief is working with international organizations with Myanmar-based health programs and regional organizations with community-based programs inside Myanmar.

“Because of our experiences responding to other emergencies involving surges of water in the region – particularly the 2004 Asian tsunami and Cyclone Sidr in Bangladesh last year we know what types of needs arise, and consequently keep the supplies to fulfill those needs on hand,” said Direct Relief’s Emergency Response Coordinator Brett Williams.

In addition to the thousands of individual contributions, Direct Relief has received substantial support from healthcare companies. The initial aid sent today containes medicines and other materials donated by long-time Direct Relief supporters, including Abbott, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Boehringer Ingelheim, Cera Products Inc., the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies, MedVantx, Midmark, Sappo Hill Soapworks, and Sunnight Solar. Henry Schein Inc. also has responded generously with donations of essential medical items for this emergency.

The post Direct Relief Commits $500,000 In Cash To Relief Effort appeared first on Direct Relief.

Dr. Hezron Mc’Obewa, Direct Relief’s regional medical adviser and founder of the OGRA Foundation, is leading the humanitarian coordinating council in the Kisumu area.  In a Friday evening (Kenya time) call, Dr. Hezron reported that estimates of displaced persons are still imprecise, but he believes as many as 200,000 people nationwide have been displaced, in many cases because their homes were burned. As an example of the level of displacement, he mentioned that his team had just learned today of a school in which 3,000 people have seeking shelter for several days without any supplies.

He reported that the level of violence in Kisumu has decreased over the past day, but that the road network is still insecure and obstructed by barricades that have been formed by burned trucks.  These impediments hamper the resumption of normal commercial activity in outlying areas.  Resulting shortages of items such as diesel fuel, the price of which has spiked 50 percent in Kisumu, has prevented assessments in outlying areas and complicate relief efforts.

With Direct Relief’s initial commitment of $10,000, Dr. Hezron has been able to purchase on the local market essential medicines and supplies to care for the more than 9,600 displaced people in his immediate area. However, these initial supplies are sufficient for only the next three days, according to Dr. Hezron. Some of the displaced persons are patients with HIV who are on antiretroviral therapy medication furnished by Direct Relief, and Dr. Hezron advised that they had been able to maintain the daily therapy despite the situation.

In addition to the cash commitment, Direct Relief has made an initial airfreight shipment of essential medical supplies, will be providing an emergency module donated by Johnson & Johnson, and will continue to monitor the situation very closely.

The post Direct Relief Steps Up Cash Commitment to $25K to Help Kenyan Health Needs appeared first on Direct Relief.

San Diego Fire and Rescue today distributed over 40,000 of the masks delivered yesterday to local residents and emergency personnel. From our warehouse in Santa Barbara, an additional eight emergency-supply shipments were trucked to clinics in the fire-affected region, bringing to 16 the number of specific orders filled in the past three days.

Taugher and Williams reported that the Qualcomm Stadium evacuation site is planned to be closed down Friday, as will roughly half of the 40 to 45 shelters in the region that had been opened earlier this week. The team supplied the following sites yesterday:

• Mid-City Community Clinic in City Heights, San Diego
• Mountain Health and Community Services, Campo, CA. Mountain Health is 13 miles from the Harris fire and has been operating a shelter, a 24-hour medical clinic, conducting home visits to residents unable to evacuate, feeding shelter residents, and has been forced to operate on generator power due to downed power lines. The clinic is among the nearly 100 clinics that Direct Relief supports on an ongoing basis and to which a $10,000 cash grant was provided following the 2003 fires in the area.
• YMCA shelters via the main distribution center and directly at the YMCA shelter in Imperial Beach

In addition to aid delivered personally by Taugher and Williams in Direct Relief’s equipment, Direct Relief’s main warehouse in Santa Barbara completed another three emergency orders of specifically requested material. The combined material aid is worth $380,264 (wholesale).

With the closure of shelters, Direct Relief will continue to identify specific needs at medical clinics and direct aid on an as-needed, specific-request basis.  Our warehouse headquarter’s proximity to the fire-affected region allows orders to be supplied within hours. This also will avoid a commonly occurring problem in emergency relief efforts that stems from large volumes of aid material arriving in the theater of operations and attempting to manage warehousing, inventory, and distribution through makeshift processes.

We were notified Thursday by several companies that they would be directing cash contributions to Direct Relief to assist with our clinic support efforts in the fire-affected region.  We are extremely grateful to these companies for their generous contributions, as well as to the individuals who have entrusted us with their resources to help those affected by the fires.

In addition, several product donor companies have informed us that they would either send additional product or fill specific requests we present to them from clinics.

Consistent with past practices and Direct Relief policy, contributions received for the fires will be applied entirely to fire-relief and recovery activities.  100 percent of funds we receive for the fires will be spent on directly related activities, with no deduction for administrative expenses, fundraising expenses (none of which have been incurred), or to pay salaries of existing staff members that have been deployed to the fire-response effort.

With the proceeds of a bequest received last year, Direct Relief now pays all its own organization’s overhead administrative and fundraising expenses.

Because the product needs are being largely met with existing or incoming inventory and transport costs are being fulfilled by FedEx, we expect that our cash expenses for our core activities will remain very modest.  Therefore we intend to use the cash to assist the nonprofit clinics in the areas that have experienced unbudgeted increases in patient visits, supply usage, staff costs and decreased revenue in connection with the nearly weeklong emergency.

These clinics operate typically on a one percent or less margin, so our aim is to ensure they can maintain their service levels to working poor, uninsured patients as the immediate emergency subsides.  The loss of a week’s wages for many low-income service workers or agricultural workers is not something Direct Relief can address, but investing cash grants into the clinics that serve those who have the least ability to absorb a financial interruption makes the most sense.

This is the same approach we took in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita with funds that we received and did not need to finance our medical assistance program, and it worked well to infuse financial resources directly into the frontline health clinics serving people in the affected region.

The post Additional Supplies Distributed to Affected California Clinics appeared first on Direct Relief.

Perez surveyed Direct Relief’s operations, met with the team handling the emergency response, and authorized on behalf of the Peruvian government immediate clearance of Direct Relief’s humanitarian aid.

CEO Thomas Tighe extended his deepest sympathies to Perez for the tragic loss of life caused by the earthquake and pledged Direct Relief’s full and ongoing support to help care for victims in response to the tragedy.

Dr. Kuon, whose organization conducts extensive humanitarian health efforts in Peru, is providing invaluable information from the network of Peruvian health officials and is supporting in-country logistics to ensure essential material is reaching responders immediately.

As the health needs of victims continue to be identified, Direct Relief is making arrangements to airlift additional medical and personal care supplies.  FedEx, which provided at no charge the initial airlift yesterday, has offered its continued logistics and transport support to Direct Relief’s response.

Program Officer Dan Smith, whose wife and daughter are in Peru, is coordinating Direct Relief’s response.  Smith has worked closely with the office of the Archdiocese of Lima for over five years on various humanitarian health projects and is in close communication with the Peruvian national civil defense coordinating agency, PAMS, and other Peruvian organizations involved in the relief effort.

Direct Relief’s first emergency airlift, completed less than 20 hours after the quake, included medical and first aid items specifically requested by Peruvian authorities.

Yesterday, Direct Relief committed $100,000 of its own resources to the quake relief effort, regardless of whether any contributions are received.  Any additional funds that are received for the quake will be restricted for use only in response to the Peru earthquake.

In light of the significant attention to this emergency, we wish to clarify that any funds received for the Peru quake will be used exclusively for this purpose without any expense charged to administration or fundraising.  Direct Relief pays all such overhead expenses with its own funds, thanks to a generous bequest received last year.

Direct Relief would sincerely like to thank the following corporate donors for making their materials available for the relief effort:

• Abbott
• BD
• Boehringer Ingelheim Cares Foundation
• Bristol-Myers Squibb Company
• Carlsbad Technology, Inc.
• Johnson & Johnson
• Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies
• Marlex Pharmaceuticals
• Matrixx Initiatives, Inc.
• McNeil Consumer & Specialty Pharmaceuticals
• Midmark Corporation
• Miltex, Inc.
• Mylan Laboratories, Inc.
• OHM Laboratories, Inc.
• Sage Products, Inc.
• sanofi-aventis
• Schering-Plough Corporation
• Watson Pharmaceuticals
• Wisconsin Pharmacal Company LLC

Direct Relief is closely monitoring the situation and is in constant communication with its in-country partner network.  As the relief effort evolves, additional shipments will be air freighted as required.

The post Peruvian Government Expedites Direct Relief Humanitarian Assistance appeared first on Direct Relief.

The shipment was sent to one of our long-standing partners in Peru, the Archdiocese of Lima. A partner with Direct Relief for eight years, the Archdiocese operates two clinics located within the poorest sections of Lima, Peru’s sprawling capital city, and one located outside the city.

The donation consisted of specifically requested items, primarily antibiotics, to be delivered to the Instituto Nacional de Defensa Civil (INDECI), the primary coordinating agency for the government’s relief effort. The Archdiocese’s office is working to coordinate relief efforts with INDECI.

Other items in the shipment included first aid materials (gauze, first aid tape, bandages, etc.), antibiotic creams, analgesics, IV solutions and accessories, and oral rehydration salts.

Direct Relief would sincerely like to thank the following corporate donors for making their materials available for the relief effort:

• Abbott
• BD
• Boehringer Ingelheim Cares Foundation
• Bristol-Myers Squibb Company
• Carlsbad Technology, Inc.
• Johnson & Johnson
• Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies
• Marlex Pharmaceuticals
• Matrixx Initiatives, Inc.
• McNeil Consumer & Specialty Pharmaceuticals
• Midmark Corporation
• Miltex, Inc.
• Mylan Laboratories, Inc.
• OHM Laboratories, Inc.
• Sage Products, Inc.
• sanofi-aventis
• Schering-Plough Corporation
• Watson Pharmaceuticals
• Wisconsin Pharmacal Company LLC

Direct Relief is closely monitoring the situation and is in constant communication with its in-country partner network.  As the relief effort evolves, additional shipments will be air freighted as required.

The post Direct Relief Sending Resources to Aid Victims of Peru Earthquake appeared first on Direct Relief.

In response to the changing medical needs of earthquake survivors in Yogyakarta, an emergency shipment of pharmaceuticals, nutritional supplements, and medical supplies was air freighted to earthquake relief partners Australian Aid International (AAI) and CHF International. Communication received from Direct Relief staff members, who have been on-site assessing the situation, directed the decision on shipment priority and contents.

Direct Relief’s Emergency Coordinator reported from Yogyakarta that there had been a shift in the majority of earthquake-related injuries from orthopedic problems to rehabilitation, lacerations, and skin infections primarily as a result of villagers attempting to excavate their homes. Upper respiratory infections are also a major concern due to the compromised living conditions as well as ash and smoke generated from the nearby volcano that continues to threaten a larger eruption.

The earthquake response from AAI has been extensive. AAI physicians took over a field hospital established by a departing organization, and are providing medical services to hundreds of earthquake survivors. Products provided to AAI included a variety of anti-infective agents to address infections due to dirty wounds, upper and lower respiratory illnesses, and gastrointestinal problems; dermatological products to address fungal infections and skin irritation and rashes; and first aid and general hospital supplies for consultations, minor injuries, vaccinations, and rehydration.

Product designated for CHF included antibiotics, prenatal supplements, gastrointestinal agents, and assorted first aid and orthopedic supplies. CHF had previously received a Direct Relief emergency shipment in response to the earthquake. Working with Persatuan Perawat Nacional (PPNI), an Indonesian partner organization that deployed a team of 20 nurses to Yogyakarta to care for earthquake victims, CHF distributed donated medical goods to local health posts, medical clinics, and hospitals.

The following companies donated products specifically requested for the Indonesia earthquake that were included in this shipment:

• BD
• Johnson & Johnson
• Merck & Company, Inc.
• Pfizer Consumer Healthcare
• Schering-Plough

Direct Relief responded immediately after the earthquake in providing both emergency cash grants and medical material aid to Indonesian-based partner organizations and colleague U.S. nongovernmental organizations with medical teams in the region. Cash assistance went towards purchasing two ambulances, supplies and equipment to equip its eight field-based clinics (minor surgery sets, sterilizers, suction, disposables, etc.), eight small generators to power the clinics, along with providing financial assistance for teams of nurses and doctors to medical support, nutrition, and address other urgent needs for those affected by the earthquake.

The post $1.7 Million Worth of Emergency Medical Aid to Java appeared first on Direct Relief.

The five tons of medical material, valued at $231,000 (wholesale), will be flown to Indonesia on Tuesday, May 30, for use by Indonesian-based partner organizations and colleague U.S. nongovernmental organizations with medical teams in the region.

The aid shipments contain a disaster module furnished by Johnson & Johnson and other materials including: surgical instruments, sutures, wound dressings, casting material, disinfective agents, antibiotics, oral rehydration solution.

Muhammadiyah, Indonesia’s largest civic organization is among the partner organizations that will receive approximately one-half of the medical material aid, for use in its hospital in Bantul and its eight field clinics being established in Bantul and Klaten (Central Java).

The National Chairman of Muhammadiyah, Dr. H. Sudibyo Markus, today reported that the main facility in Bantul is functioning and providing services, but it is stretched beyond capacity. Two of the delivery rooms have been converted to operating theaters, and orthopedic surgeons have been deployed from the Indonesian government and other Muhammadiyah hospitals to assist with the surge of trauma cases. Post-operative patients are being evacuated to Muhammadiyah schools, although some patients remain in hospital corridors and outside under verandas.

In addition, Direct Relief is furnishing material assistance and cash assistance to partner organization Pusat Kajian dan Perlindungan Anak (PKPA). PKPA is an Indonesian organization focused on children’s rights and health, and Direct Relief is financing three of its health programs in Aceh and Medan in Sumatra as part of the tsunami recovery effort.

PKPA’s executive director, Mr. Ahmad Sofian, is in Yogyakarta conducting a rapid health assessment. Cash support approved today will enable PKPA to send 10 physicians to Yogyakarta to provide medical support, nutrition, and address other urgent needs for affected infants and children.

Persatuan Perawat Nasional (PPNI), another Indonesian partner organization with which Direct Relief has teamed to finance five health clinics in the areas hardest hit by the tsunami, is deploying a team of 20 nurses to Yogyakarta to care for earthquake victims.

Direct Relief has approved $25,000 for this effort, with the funds being managed by CHF International, a U.S.-based nonprofit organization with which Direct Relief has partnered on a large health infrastructure building program in tsunami-affected areas. CHF will also receive and distribute one of the emergency medical shipments through its staff members in Yogyakarta.

Corporate Support:

Direct Relief’s Indonesia material support effort is made possible by contributions from 22 companies:

• Abbott
• Aearo Company
• Alcon Laboratories, Inc.
• Amsino International
• Anda, Inc.
• BD
• Bristol-Myers Squibb Company
• BSN Medical, Inc. – Orthopaedics GBU
• Child Health Foundation
• Ethicon, Inc.
• Fisher Scientific Co.
• GlaxoSmithKline
• Hospira, Inc.
• Invacare Supply Group
• Johnson & Johnson
• Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies
• Kawasumi Laboratories America, Inc.
• McNeil Consumer & Specialty Pharms.
• Microflex
• Miltex Instrument Company
• Vitamin Angel Alliance
• Waldwick Plastics

The post Direct Relief Mobilizes Medical and Financial Assistance for Java Earthquake appeared first on Direct Relief.

“This is an initial cash commitment from our existing resources to respond to the severe medical needs of the people who have been injured and displaced,” said Direct Relief President and CEO Thomas Tighe.

“We are committing these funds regardless of how much money we may receive,” said Tighe. “If we receive more, we will increase our commitment.”

Direct Relief has been coordinating with colleague U.S.-based international groups with staff members in Indonesia, with partner companies, and with the National Chairman of Muhammadiyah, Indonesia’s largest civic organization whose hospital in the quake affected area is already overwhelmed with victims.

Direct Relief has received detailed needs lists from four organizations and is preparing a series of emergency medical air shipments based on these specific requests.

Corporate partner companies Abbott Laboratories, GlaxoSmithKline, and Johnson & Johnson have authorized Direct Relief to allocate to the Java quake relief effort products they have previously donated and are in the organization’s inventory.

The initial cash commitment will be used to provide emergency cash assistance to Muhammadiyah and potentially to other organizations providing emergency urgent medical and support services to the quake victims and for transport of requested medical material.

Direct Relief emergency coordinator, Brett Williams, an emergency medical technician (EMT), is traveling to Java to expedite material aid plans and logistics to the affected region. He will be working with U.S. physicians associated with Australian Aid International, coordinating with Dr. Markus and Muhammadiyah staff members, and other groups providing assistance.

In response to a series of natural disasters and health emergencies over the past year and a half, beginning with the tsunami that struck South Asia in December 2004, Direct Relief has been called upon to provide emergency medical aid to degree unprecedented in its 58-year history.

“We are deeply saddened by the extensive loss of life and we will stretch to provide whatever resources we can to assist the people who have survived this tragedy,” said Tighe.

Over the past 19 months, Direct Relief has furnished over $13.8 million in medical aid and cash assistance to tsunami-affected areas in Indonesia.

The post $100,000 in Cash & $500,000 in Medical Material Aid Committed to Indonesia Quake Relief Effort appeared first on Direct Relief.

Friday, October 1, Direct Relief sent an emergency air shipment to assist with the medical needs of those affected by Hurricane Jeanne in Haiti. The shipment, which is scheduled to be picked up at the Direct Relief warehouse in Santa Barbara, California, consists of pharmaceuticals and medical supplies including adult and pediatric analgesics and anti-infectives, and assorted first aid and surgical products. Direct Relief’s Dominican Republic-based partner MOSCTHA, which will be taking their mobile van across the Haitian border to provide medical services directly to victims of the hurricane, will receive the shipment.

Direct Relief has also recently provided 16,000 lbs. of medical goods including pharmaceuticals, nutritional drinks and supplements, and first aid medical supplies to healthcare facilities located throughout Jamaica in response to the damage caused by Hurricane Ivan. Direct Relief also provided immediate and ongoing response to areas of Haiti affected by the May floods disaster.

Friday’s shipment will be a total volume of 4 shipping pallets, with weight totaling approximately 3000 pounds.

Some of the specific types of medicines and supplies in the Haiti shipment are: IV solutions, First Aid supplies (gauze, tape, bandages, etc.), Syringes, Examination gloves, Disinfectants, Tylenol, Motrin, Tylenol for children, Tylenol for infants, Ampicillin, Lorabid (cefalosporin), approximately 80,000 tablets, Cefprozil (cefalosporin) suspension, approximately 1440 bottles, Anti-diarrhetics, Mycology anti-fungal cream, Surgical sutures, Multivitamins

Major corporate donors for the medical supplies include Johnson & Johnson, and for medicines include Bristol-Myers Squibb and King Pharmaceuticals.

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