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New Canaan, CT, September 29 2003 – An airlift of at least 60,000 pounds of emergency relief is under preparation by AmeriCares for September delivery to Liberia where civil strife has created more than 500,000 refugees and swelled the population of the capital of Monrovia to an estimated 1.5 million.
The shipment is being assembled in Milford, CT and consolidated in Amsterdam for the flight to Monrovia with two AmeriCares staff members from New Canaan, CT, the headquarters of the humanitarian aid and disaster relief organization.
A comprehensive assessment of needs—to plan additional shipments– is to be made in October by a team of AmeriCares personnel and volunteer medical personal
Curt Welling, president and chief executive officer of AmeriCares, said: “The healthcare infrastructure of Liberia is overwhelmed and lacking in resources. Our aim is to expedite an initial emergency response to alleviate the shortage of essential medicines and materials and to help the health care institutions deliver medical services to the population.”
The aid is part of an emergency response to be distributed through Africare to three hospitals and 40 clinics treating victims of a cholera outbreak, gastro-intestinal illness, malnutrition, malaria and dehydration.
Included in the shipment are five anti-malarial kits—each for treating at least 10,000 people–cholera medications, antibiotics, 50,000 dosages of oral rehydration salts, water purification tablets and medical supplies. So as to treat as many age groups as possible, the medications are packaged in adult and pediatric dosages.