AmeriCares Airlift Delivers Aid to West Darfur

Stamford, CT, February 15 2006 – An AmeriCares airlift arrived in West Darfur today, delivering more than 26,000 pounds of essential medicines and relief supplies to aid the Sudanese population living amidst escalating civil unrest in the region.

The AmeriCares relief flight carried hundreds of thousands of life-saving medical treatments to combat respiratory and intestinal infections, malaria and other threatening illnesses. These treatments will be distributed through AmeriCares partner on the ground, Save the Children, to health facilities and clinics throughout the region that serve approximately 250,000 people living in relief camps or nearby villages.

Following the success of this response, a second airlift delivering equally urgent medical aid including antibiotics, antifungals, malaria test kits and vitamins to North and South Darfur is expected to take place within the month.

“Through these airlifts, AmeriCares is fulfilling a vital role by providing essential medicines to the people of Sudan who are most at risk as this crisis continues,” said Curt Welling, president and CEO of AmeriCares.

Despite prohibitive flight restrictions, AmeriCares successfully delivered a series of airlifts into Sudan in 2005, sending 47 tons of medicines and relief supplies to North, South and West Darfur.

AmeriCares has been responding to the crisis in the region since 2004, when three airlifts totaling 60 tons of aid was sent to Chad, where more than 200,000 displaced Sudanese are living in refugee camps on the border of Sudan. AmeriCares has also donated medical supplies and equipment, including 30 hospital beds, examination tables, operating room tables and lights, vital signs monitors, and a portable defibrillator to equip a hospital facility in Bahai, Chad. This health center provides services for more than 26,400 Sudanese refugees at The Kashuni Camp.

To learn more about AmeriCares’ relief efforts in Sudan, or to make a contribution to support these efforts, log onto sandbox.americares.org or call 1-800-486-HELP (4357).

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AmeriCares is a nonprofit international disaster relief and humanitarian aid organization, which provides immediate response to emergency medical needs and supports long-term humanitarian assistance programs around the world. Since it was established in 1982, AmeriCares has distributed more than $5 billion in humanitarian aid to 137 countries. AmeriCares has been given a four-star rating from Charity Navigator, the highest possible rating, indicating effective management practices.