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Airlift of 15 tons of Emergency Medicines and Medical Supplies Arrives in Yangon
STAMFORD, CT – The government of Myanmar today cleared for entry a life-saving shipment of medicines and medical supplies airlifted to Yangon by AmeriCares – a nonprofit international aid organization. The relief package will be distributed in partnership with International Organization for Migration (IOM), an organization that helps ensure the orderly and humane management of migration and provides practical solutions to migration problems faced by refugees and internally displaced people, including health care services.
IOM will be operating ten mobile clinics serving the victims of the cyclone in their communities, including the Irrawaddy delta region. AmeriCares medicines and supplies will enable not only IOM to restore health and save lives throughout Myanmar, but will provide essential medicines to other NGO’s serving the ravaged areas.
“With each passing day, the health care crisis for those displaced by Cyclone Nargis grows greater,” says Curt Welling, president and chief executive officer of AmeriCares. “We anticipate this airlift will be the first of many to Myanmar and are pleased to partner with IOM, an organization with extensive experience providing direct medical care to victims of natural disasters and within Myanmar itself.”
The shipment, which arrived from Amsterdam, contains 15 tons of medicines such as antibiotics, analgesics, ointments and multivitamins as well as medical equipment and supplies to treat the immediate needs of those injured and to help prevent the anticipated spread of illness and disease throughout the region. The medicines and supplies will allow healthcare workers in Myanmar to treat injuries and illnesses associated with cyclones including, lacerations, trauma, puncture wounds, water-borne diseases, diarrheal diseases, malaria and help prevent the outbreak of cholera. This airlift will be the first of many deliveries AmeriCares will make to help the victims of the cyclone.
“We’re hearing from our colleagues on the ground that clean water and emergency medicines and medical supplies are desperately needed to prevent further death and widespread diseases,” says Welling. “AmeriCares shipment contains the supplies urgently needed to help ease suffering and restore health to the victims of Cyclone Nargis.”
To learn more about how to donate to AmeriCares, visit: www.americares.org.
About AmeriCaresAmeriCares is a private, nonprofit international disaster relief and humanitarian aid organization, which delivers medicines, medical supplies and aid to people in crisis around the world. Since it was established in 1982, AmeriCares has distributed more than $9.0 billion in humanitarian aid to 147 countries. For more information, visit www.americares.org.
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