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Emergency Relief to Iraq for Cholera Outbreak

  • October 21, 2007
 
 Airlifted medicines arrive in Baghdad to help cholera victims in Iraq. PHOTO: Courtesy IMC.

According to health care workers in the country, there is an acute shortage of medicines to control the disease.  In response to this lack of treatment and in order to help quell the epidemic, AmeriCares and its partner International Medical Corps (IMC) delivered critical medicines to Iraq in an emergency airlift. 

“When we heard of the grave situation in Iraq, we knew we could provide the help needed to aid people in desperate need of care,” said AmeriCares President and CEO Curt Welling.  When IMC, the nonprofit organization working on the ground in Iraq, made an urgent request for help, AmeriCares immediately contacted longtime pharmaceutical partner Baxter, who quickly donated IV solutions.  AmeriCares also  purchased other medicines and medical supplies to treat the disease and delivered all the relief to IMC for distribution.  The total shipment was worth nearly $500,000 and could treat up to 6,000 of the most critically ill patients. 

“We are extremely grateful for AmeriCares swift and generous contribution to our humanitarian efforts in Iraq. After four years of work under extremely difficult conditions, International Medical Corps is well positioned to help our local partners in combating the crisis,” says Nancy Aossey, President and CEO of International Medical Corps.

The medicines were airlifted to Baghdad and are being distributed to health care facilities in collaboration with the Iraqi Ministry of Health, with at least half of the donation going to internally displaced communities.