The health profile of Syrian refugees is similar to that of Jordanians when it comes to chronic diseases, and this grant makes it possible to extend preventive services to refugees in host communities as well as vulnerable le Jordanians through the Healthy Community Clinic (HCC) program,” said Hanin Odeh, Director General of RHAS. We, at RHAS, greatly appreciate this partnership Direct Relief, which has extended support towards healthier communities in Jordan.”

The agreement includes donations of cash and medical resources from Direct Relief to support the expansion of community health clinics that serve refugees.

It is our pleasure to support RHAS and its plans to expand its important work so that Syrian refugees can benefit from preventative and primary care interventions and achieve the goal of health that all people share,” said Thomas Tighe, President and CEO of Direct Relief.

The agreement helps fulfill a Commitment to Action made by RHAS at the 2015 Clinton Global Initiative to scale up to 12 community health centers across Jordan. As the program expands, RHAS aims to provide comprehensive care 4,000 persons with and at high risk for non-communicable diseases (NCDs), 40 percent of whom are refugees.

The agreement signing coincided with the 2016 CGI Winter Meeting in New York, which featured RHAS’ commitment during the Plenary Session: Partnering for Global Prosperity.

The RHAS community health initiative provides interactive awareness sessions to patients, addressing priority NCDs such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and cancer while encouraging healthy behaviors and lifestyle changes such as healthy diet plans, exercise and smoking cessation.

The HCC is a cost-effective model for patients and government, as prescribed medications and follow-up visits significantly decrease due to the adoption of healthier lifestyles,” added Odeh.

About The Royal Health Awareness Society (RHAS)

The Royal Health Awareness Society (RHAS) is a non-profit organization, with a mission to enhance the overall wellbeing of the local community by raising health awareness and empowering Jordanians to embrace healthy lifestyles and behaviors. RHAS initiates and supports community – based health and safety interventions in partnership with public, private and civil society institutions.

The post Syrian Refugees, And The Need for Preventative Health Care appeared first on Direct Relief.

With Ebola, it was overwhelmed completely.

At a time when rapid diagnosis and case tracking were crucial, such services halted to a standstill. When space to triage and care for patients was at a deficit, health care facilities had no recourse but to shut their doors. And when additional staff were needed to care for a growing influx of patients, supply shortages made working conditions unconscionable.

Ebola has declined sharply since the crisis began more than a year ago, but its consequences are lasting.

As of August 26, 2015, Sierra Leone had confirmed 8,547 Ebola cases. While 3,586 of those cases resulted in death, 5,111 people survived. Among those who survived, many face serious challenges – both physiological and social.

Survivors often experience eye problems, musculoskeletal pain, headaches, neurological issues, gastrointestinal problems and psychological challenges. Socially, they may be stigmatized and left few economic opportunities.

Services for survivors do exist, but not in the amounts needed. In Sierra Leone’s Bombali District, for instance, there is only one survivor clinic for an estimated 659 survivors.

To address this need, Direct Relief and the Medical Research Centre (MRC) — through a commitment announced at the 2015 Clinton Global Initiative’s plenary session  — will establish a new survivors’ clinic in the city of Makeni. Once built, the clinic will accept and care for any Ebola survivor from Bombali and the surrounding districts.

The Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MOHS) has agreed to help staff the clinic. Personnel  will include a supervising physician and medical staff who specialize in eye care and mental health care. In addition to on-site services, clinic staff will conduct community outreach activities. In instances where referrals are necessary, MRC has agreed to establish a referral network between the survivors’ clinic and larger government hospitals. Direct Relief will equip the clinic with sustained donations of medical resources.

In addition to MRC and Sierra Leone’s MOHS, collaborators include:

• Bombali EVD Survivor Association, which will conduct outreach, including through radio dissemination.
• The Canteen of the Midwifery School Makeni, which will provide prepared food for clinic health care workers, staff, and patients, with a focus on patients under observation
• The University of Makeni (UNIMAK) who will deploy psychiatric nurses
• MRC, which will provide non-healthcare related, administrative staff training to employees of the clinic
• Additional health NGOs who will provide specialized or higher level health services

To learn more, the full commitment is available on the Clinton Global Initiative website: Ebola Survivor Services, Bombali District, Sierra Leone

The post CGI Commitment: Ebola Survivor Services, Sierra Leone appeared first on Direct Relief.

This delivery was the first donation shipped as part of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Commitment to Action “Mobilizing Medical Supplies for Pakistan“ announced by Heartfile Health Financing (HHF) – a Pakistani organization dedicated to expanding health care to the nation’s underserved people.

Some wounded in the shooting were likely treated with the donated items, which included critical medicines as well as a range of disposable hospital supplies such as gloves, syringes, wound pads, bandages, and dressings, and medical equipment, including: two specifically requested pediatric gastroscopes, 30 hospital beds, 25 autoclaves, 40 wheelchairs, and 28 IV stands.

While the massive tragedy that would affect Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) was unpredictable, the hospital’s ongoing need for medical supplies was certain.

LRH’s wards are often filled to capacity. Its busy out-patient clinic sees more than 2,500 patients per day, and its Accident & Emergency Unit typically sees 1,500 – 1,800 patients per day, including many victims of violence.

The needs at Pakistani health facilities like Lady Reading Hospital as well as the numerous barriers to accessing health care services in Pakistan are among the reasons why Heartfile announced the CGI commitment in an effort to address the lack of access to quality public health care services in Pakistan.

According to The Lancet, more than 78 percent of people in Pakistan pay out-of-pocket to access health care services even though more than 60 percent of the country’s population lives on less than the equivalent of $2 USD a day. As a result, burdensome spending on urgent medical care needs and impoverishing healthcare-related debt are common.

Over the next five years, Heartfile aims to strengthen the public healthcare system in Pakistan by distributing medical products adequate to treat a minimum of 2,500 patients in need. Direct Relief has committed to providing $5 million worth of medical goods to Heartfile over the program period.

This commitment is conducted in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO) Pakistan office and Pakistani nonprofit Sulaimaniyah Trust. Direct Relief medical donations are shipped to Heartfile, which then distributes them to an approved network of public sector hospitals based on their specific needs.

The post CGI Commitment Saves Lives in Peshawar, Pakistan appeared first on Direct Relief.

The three commitments to action in response to the Ebola crisis include the following:

1. Airlift of 100 Tons of Medical Aid Commitment by: Direct Relief Partner(s): Wellbody Alliance – Sierra Leone; Medical Research Centre – Sierra Leone; CDC – Sierra Leone; Last Mile Health – Liberia; Christian Aid Ministries – Liberia; CDC – Liberia; Africare – Liberia; Ministry of Health/National Drug Services – Liberia; Merck; Becton, Dickinson and Company. In response to the deadliest Ebola outbreak in history, Direct Relief committed to sending more than 100 tons of urgently needed personal protective equipment (PPE), medical supplies, and medicines to its partners on the ground in Liberia and Sierra Leone. Partners on the ground will team up with the respective Ministries of Health to deploy an effective distribution channel to get supplies to clinics, health facilities, and hospitals in regions heavily affected by the outbreak. In addition, more supplies will be secured in other locations as precautionary and emergency preparedness measures.
2. Strengthening Rural Health Commitment by: Partners in Health and Last Mile Health Partner(s): Wellbody Alliance; Direct Relief, Partners In Health, Last Mile Health (Liberia) and Wellbody Alliance (Sierra Leone) have launched a coalition to scale-up rural Ebola response efforts and rebuild primary health systems in two of the most-affected countries: Liberia and Sierra Leone. The Coalition builds on over 40 years of collective experience (including 15 combined years in Liberia and Sierra Leone) in strengthening public health systems in partnership with Ministries of Health; and integrating research, teaching, and service to deliver high-quality, comprehensive health care to the poor.
3. Air Bridge Support Commitment by: Airlink Partner(s): Paul G. Allen Foundation; Greenbaum Foundation; ChildFund International; AmeriCares; Direct Relief; AFYA Foundation; LIFT; ALAN (American Logistics Aid Network); Brussels Airlines; Western Global Airlines.

In 2014, Airlink committed to transporting between 100 and 500 tons of material aid cargo by air to Western Africa by year-end 2014 with the help of its partners. The actual amount that Airlink will ship will depend on the length of time that an air bridge is called for in Western Africa before slower forms of transportation become sufficient to serve the requirement for material aid.

Related: Ebola Response: Humanitarian Charter 747 Brings 100 Tons of Medical Aid to Fight Outbreak

To join the fight against Ebola, click here to donate.

The post Ebola Response Recognized at Clinton Global Initiative Meeting appeared first on Direct Relief.

As confirmed Ebola cases in the region approach 5,000, with 2,453 deaths reported, the WHO and other public health experts warn of an exponential increase if greater assistance is not provided.

“We must do all we can to prevent further human tragedy caused by this deadly outbreak and help countries avoid an even deeper setback than has occurred already,” said Thomas Tighe, CEO of Direct Relief. “Direct Relief mobilized this airlift in recognition that the failure to act now will make the crisis all the more severe.”

Aid efforts to increase the flow of resources into the Ebola-affected areas have been limited by several factors that have arisen since the outbreak’s spread: commercial passenger and cargo flights have been severely restricted, prices have spiked on the few remaining commercial transport options, and the affected countries have by necessity diverted existing health budgets to combat the crisis, deferring essential action on other health priorities.

Ebola’s effect on regional supply chains is mirroring that of natural disasters – the distribution pipeline for medical essentials has contracted when it should be expanding. In light of the growing crisis and urgent need to replenish medical inventories, Direct Relief made the decision to charter this aircraft in the absence of other viable air transport options.

The shipment, the eleventh from Direct Relief to Ebola-hit regions, contains 9.8 million defined daily doses of medications; enough pre-mix oral rehydration solution (40,200 liters) to supply two Ebola wards for one year; and enough coverall gowns (170,000), masks (120,000), and gloves (2.8 million) to meet the annual needs of approximately 280 health workers.

Each item and quantity in the airlift was shared with respective national Ebola task force members and Ministries of Health, and each end-recipient placed and confirmed orders via Direct Relief’s VAWD-accredited inventory system.

The medical supplies will support the efforts of local nonprofits that include the Medical Research Centre and Wellbody Alliance in Sierra Leone, and Africare and Last Mile Health in Liberia. The Clinton Health Access Initiative will also assist in the national distribution of supplies.

“This airlift truly exemplifies the spirit of the Clinton Global Initiative – to see a pressing issue in the world, and work together to commit to bringing their specific resources and specialties to bear on the problem,” said Bob Harrison, CEO of the Clinton Global Initiative. ”I’m looking forward to seeing the additional work and commitments at our 10th CGI Annual Meeting this week, that will provide immediate and long-term assistance on the ground in West Africa to fight the Ebola Outbreak.”

Valued at nearly $6 million (wholesale), the 370 pallets of cargo contain product donations from companies, including: 3M, Actavis Pharma, Inc., Allergan, Inc., Ansell, BD, Baxter International Inc., Cera Products, Inc., Chattem Inc., Covidien, Hospira, Inc., Kimberly-Clark, Merck & Co., Inc., McNeil Consumer Healthcare, Mylan Laboratories Inc., Omron Healthcare, Inc., Prestige Brands, Pro2 Solutions Inc., and Teva Pharmaceuticals.

“Ansell is in a unique position to provide support to leading organizations through Direct Relief in response to this crisis,” said Anthony Lopez, President and General Manager of Ansell Medical Solutions — a company that has donated millions of gloves to the Ebola response effort. “Our hope is that today’s shipment to the affected areas will serve to contain and, especially, eradicate the ongoing suffering caused by this epidemic.”

The airlift is privately funded through charitable donations. While Direct Relief has received contributions ($406,000) and pledges ($215,000) that has partially offset the cost of the airlift and other Ebola response activities, the Ebola crisis has not generated financial contributions comparable to the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, the 2011 earthquake and Tsunami in Japan, or the 2013 Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.

Direct Relief’s website contains a detailed policy to explain how financial contributions designated for Ebola are used.

The post Ebola Response: Humanitarian Charter 747 Brings 100 Tons of Medical Aid to Fight Outbreak appeared first on Direct Relief.

A little over one week ago, I traveled to the Philippines with colleagues from the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) and Palantir Technologies to review progress on our shared CGI commitment to improve disaster response through better data analysis.

The joint commitment began in 2012 following the response to Hurricane Sandy. Unlike the situation in New York, in the Philippines we realized that conventional mobile solutions would not work given the extreme damage to networks. The response required a novel use of satellite communications as a way to understand rapidly changing situations and mobilize resources to meet the needs of the most vulnerable. Out of this experience, the MIMOSA (Mini Mobile Satellite) platform was born.

Our first stop was on the island of Panay to meet with the Philippine nongovernmental organization (NGO) Gawad Kalinga (GK) who were finishing up the opening stage of the Baiyani Challenge, GK’s mass volunteer mobilization.  Gawad Kalinga constructs communities for the poorest of the Philippine poor. They’re using Palantir to assess needs; map out construction projects; manage volunteers; and coordinate work teams across 12 of the country’s provinces. Direct Relief provided a significant grant to improve the information technology powering GK’s efforts.

Outside the city of Iloilo, we visited a vibrant GK community construction project where Palantir’s technical resources are being put to work understanding housing needs and progress to date relative to the scope of shelter activities reported to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) and the Philippine government. While GK has been effectively building communities for many years, this is the very first time they have done so with the kind of rich analytic insight and efficient data sharing made possible by a fully integrated information infrastructure. Early results look good, with thousands of volunteers mobilized across dozens of projects throughout the Philippines.

From Iloilo, we headed southeast to the city of Tacloban where we met up with Dr. Gloria Fabregas, the director of the Tacloban Health Cluster (THC).  The THC coordinates public health response in the hardest hit metro area of the Philippines.  MIMOSA was put to work here months ago on emergency epidemiology, tracking high-risk diseases and medical conditions in real time throughout all clinics and hospitals in the city.

According to Dr. Fabregas and other clinical health workers we spoke with, MIMOSA has been a crucial part of their ability to connect health centers to effective coordination mechanisms and understand emergent infections and health trends as they happened. Response times have quickened and insight into Tacloban’s health system has deepened, paving the way for improved public health preparedness in the face of whatever events may strike Tacloban in the future.

Just south of Tacloban, in the tiny town of Dulag, we finished up with a visit to the Bumi Sehat birthing center. Bumi Sehat, run by 2011 CNN Hero Robin Lim, is a lifeline for thousands of impoverished mothers on Leyte Island.  In the next phase of MIMOSA implementation, Direct Relief will be teaming with Bumi to help them understand the epidemiology of maternal health; improve the efficiency of health services; coordinate across NGO and public sector actors; and in general to tell the remarkable story of global and local collaboration to rebuild and enhance the health of post-typhoon Philippine society.

The post Improving Philippines Typhoon Response With Satellite Technology appeared first on Direct Relief.

Toward the end of this year’s Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) winter meeting, President Clinton asserted that most global problems have solutions, however the politics of special interests get in the way of making changes for the common good.

While he used the example of how specific interests are preventing Caribbean countries from switching their energy source from imported petroleum to zero-carbon emissions (despite a clear path to the latter), I was reminded of how this problem of specific interests is often all too true in the aftermath of a natural disaster.

Clinton urged the crowd to “re-imagine impact” – the theme of the meeting – by adopting the solution of applying a multi-interest approach in prioritizing the common good. Though this idea may seem idealistic, technology is allowing Direct Relief, in collaboration with software company Palantir and local partner organizations, to do just that.

Following a disaster, like Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, the need for accurate information and efficient coordination is greatest in the immediate days after the event – precisely the moment when the difficulty and cost of acquiring accurate data and impairment of information infrastructure is most costly and challenging. It’s often a challenge to get groups to share information on situational awareness and response activities, even though it’s beneficial for all involved in the response.

Through a 2013 CGI commitment along with Palantir Technologies and Team Rubicon, we sought to strengthen information infrastructure for disaster response based upon our experience during and after Hurricane Sandy and the creative use of Palantir Gotham and Palantir Mobile to integrate massive amounts of data into a single location to improve situational analysis and volunteer coordination.

This year, the commitment expanded internationally through the development and deployment of Palantir MIMOSA (MIniature MObile SAtellite), an entirely satellite-based version of Palantir mobile, used in the Philippines following Typhoon Haiyan. Having spent the better part of a month working in the affected area of the Philippines training in-country partners including the Philippine Red Cross, Gawad Kalinga and the Tacloban Health Cluster, I was excited to be able to share lessons learned and new ideas about ways that improved information management can in turn help us to re-conceive the efficiency, integration and impact of international disaster relief.

Palantir MIMOSA was conceived as an answer to the post-disaster information dilemma. By allowing individuals within and across critical response organizations to collect data regardless of terrestrial network conditions, and to share that information in real time via a common application and portal containing the best open source information available, we have seen gains in coordinated activities and contextualized knowledge within some of the most remote areas of the response.

In this way, we hope to drive disaster response steadily and increasingly toward effective promotion of the common good, particularly for the most vulnerable, and ultimately, toward a better, more integrated, transparent and impactful, set of social structures governing how we as a world community respond to extreme events.

The post How Technology Can Enable Collaboration for the Common Good appeared first on Direct Relief.

Alice  presented on a mental health panel at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI)  annual meeting held last week in New York City. When she’s not traveling, she recruits, trains, mentors, and supervises community health workers to help fulfill the mission of getting critically-needed healthcare to people living in Liberia’s most remote communities.

She recently shared her perspective with Direct Relief’s team. Read her thoughts below to learn more about how she and Last Mile Health find innovative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing global health problems.

DR: How has Liberia’s past history of conflict affected health access today?

AJ: Liberia has suffered two brutal civil wars and thus devastating effects on (a) human population, reducing the number of medical doctors from 400  to 51… (b) Economy, leaving 78 percent of the population unemployed which increased overall poverty in the country, and (c) infrastructure of Liberia, as there are no functioning public utilities post-conflict which left Liberians without access to water and basic sanitation facilities and health care for many years. Lack of health workers and health facilities, long distances, and poor infrastructure remain obstacles to accessing health care.

DR: What are some of the challenges to accessing health care services in the communities Last Mile Health works in?

AJ: Poor condition of roads; lack of access to phone communication; long distance between the community and the clinic; and a poor supply chain.

DR: What are some examples of innovative ways Last Mile Health is overcoming these challenges?

AJ: Some innovative ways in which Last Mile Health is overcoming these challenges include mobilizing and providing some assistance to community members to repair their broken bridges and also cutting down overgrown jungle that impairs movements. In addition, we are now partnering with Medic Mobile and Cellcom to solve the communication problems that plague last mile villages. Finally, our model of care represents innovative solutions. We train professionalized community health workers to provide care. We procure medication to be used at the health center, and we also work to solve the problem of poor supply chain and the treatment gap.

DR: Is there a patient’s story that stands out to you?

AJ: A child in one of the communities in which we work was becoming severely malnourished, and the entire community including his mother failed to intervene. The community members had the mindset that it is his normal body size, though in reality he was severely malnourished. The Frontline Health Worker (FHW) diagnosed it during his regular home visit, and I confirmed the diagnosis during supervision. After diagnosis, we referred the child to the health center for nutritional rehabilitation and educated the mother on malnutrition. Today, the child has fully recovered from the illness.

DR: How does Direct Relief’s support help Last Mile Health fulfill its mission?

AJ: Supporting us with donations of life-saving drugs and medical equipment allows us to effectively diagnose and treat patients in last mile communities.

 DR: What is the most rewarding part about your job?

AJ: The most rewarding part of my work is building a strong and professional community-based service that provides health care to community members, and ensures that they don’t have to walk long distances to access care. In addition, saving the lives of innocent children that have been dying from preventable and curable diseases is extremely rewarding.

Direct Relief is honored to work with Alice and her colleagues in tackling barriers to health care. To find out more about Direct Relief’s partnership with Last Mile Health, please view these related posts: Increasing Access to Pneumonia Treatment for Children in Liberia; Health Survey Sets Baseline for Positive Change in Rural Liberia

The post Partner Q&A: Expanding Health Care Access in Rural Liberia appeared first on Direct Relief.

Together with the World Health Organization (WHO) Pakistan office and Pakistani nonprofit, Sulaimaniyah Trust, Direct Relief is supporting a commitment announced today by Heartfile Health Financing (HHF) – a Pakistani organization dedicated to expanding health care to the nation’s underserved people – to provide the critically-needed medical supplies to improve the health and lives of Pakistanis most in need.

This commitment comes at a time when more than 78 percent of people in Pakistan pay out-of-pocket to access health care services even though more than 60 percent of the country’s population lives on less than the equivalent of $2 USD a day, according to The Lancet. As a result, more than 120 million people risk being pushed into medical poverty, reports the Planning Commission of Pakistan.

In the past, Direct Relief has worked with other CGI members on commitments, including with health care company, Abbott, and the Afghan Institute of Learning to train and equip midwives in Afghanistan as well as with technology company, Palantir, and veteran response organization, Team Rubicon, to enhance emergency response coordination and information sharing.

Earlier this year at the Clinton Health Matters Initiative meeting sponsored by the Clinton Foundation, collaboration between Direct Relief, medical technology company, BD, and the National Association of Community Health Centers was also announced. The nationwide, multi-year initiative expands care for people with diabetes and identifies and awards innovative models of prevention and care for certain health conditions at nonprofit health centers and clinics in the U.S.

On behalf of Direct Relief, Tighe serves as an adviser to the Clinton Global Initiative on its ‘response and resiliency’ track – one of nine organizing themes for the CGI membership. Direct Relief was selected to have a representative based on the organization’s extensive work in these areas, including its ongoing work in Haiti as part of CGI’s Haiti Action Network.

The post Direct Relief Among Global Leaders at Clinton Global Initiative appeared first on Direct Relief.

That’s why Direct Relief teamed up with Palantir Technologies and veteran volunteer organization, Team Rubicon, and made a commitment at the Clinton Global Initiative in February to use Palantir technology to coordinate and better inform emergency response efforts.

After the tornadoes in Oklahoma, Direct Relief and Team Rubicon used Palantir mobile devices to perform door-to-door assessments and determine if residents had an immediate need for health care or needed structural repairs to make their homes habitable again.

All of these responses were then aggregated and prioritized by Palantir to inform Direct Relief and Team Rubicon where to send the needed medical supplies and the strike teams to repair those homes that need it.

As a result of this collaboration, Direct Relief has already sent 37 shipments of essential medications and first-aid supplies valued at nearly $800,000 to ten health centers treating people who were affected by the disaster. Team Rubicon has been able to perform assessments of over 2,181 homes and made 200 homes inhabitable again within 8 days after the tornado hit.

To see the efforts in action on the ground, please watch this brief video.

The post Collaborating with Palantir, Team Rubicon to Help Oklahomans in Need appeared first on Direct Relief.

Direct Relief was busy at the time assembling and cross-referencing datasets on everything from weather forecasts to pharmacy status to electrical power to clinical health conditions and demographics in an effort to gain a more complete understanding about the probable impacts on our partners, the patients they serve, and the health needs that would result to which we were capable of responding.

Palantir’s cutting-edge data integration and analysis platform amplified the scale, speed, and precision of this work in significant ways, which in turn amplified Direct Relief’s capacity over the coming days and weeks to respond in efficient, timely and accurate ways in order to mitigate the impact of the storm on the region’s most vulnerable people.

As Direct Relief’s CEO, Thomas Tighe phrased it during a recent talk he gave at Palantir’s Palo Alto headquarters Feb. 18^th, “When an emergency event happens, the urgency to act is very high and the information upon which to act is very low. One of the great challenges that Palantir is trying to help Direct Relief and other groups solve is, ‘how can you have better information upon which to act, particularly when there’s an urgent need to act?”

As preparations continue for new emergencies which may arise, Direct Relief is focusing on helping to solve the informational problems associated with disaster response through better data collection, aggregation and analysis. Our collaboration with Team Rubicon and others on Palantir’s recent commitment to the Clinton Global Initiative is a leading example of how intelligent partnerships built around the best informational tools available can help to improve the quality, pace and targeted effectiveness of response to emergency events, by a broad range of actors, particularly during the immediate hours and days when responders have traditionally known the least.

The post Improving Disaster Response through Information Analysis with Palantir appeared first on Direct Relief.

Direct Relief will continue to expand work with technology company, Palantir, as a result of a Commitment to Action announced at the Clinton Global Initiative meeting last week in which the company pledged to help aid organizations utilize Palantir technology to focus assistance where it is needed most before, during, and after emergencies.

This commitment is the first of its kind, according to Palantir, and “brings together military knowledge, medical and pharmaceutical expertise, local partners, volunteers, data scientists, medical supplies, technology and general disaster relief to more efficiently meet the needs of vulnerable communities hit by calamities.”

Direct Relief and Team Rubicon, a disaster response veterans service organization, are Palantir’s first partners in the commitment because of their recent work with Palantir responding to the effects of Hurricane Sandy.

During Hurricane Sandy, Direct Relief used Palantir to integrate information from in-house databases, nearby community health clinic partners, and other public data to conduct meteorological, social vulnerability, supply chain, and health risk analyses of areas in the path of the storm.

With this information, Direct Relief was able to pre-position supplies and medicine before the storm hit, analyze real-time weather data during the storm, and provide emergency medical supplies where they were needed most in the wake of the storm, as noted in an impact study by Palantir.

When volunteers and staff arrived on the ground, they used Palantir Mobile to collect and send data to Direct Relief headquarters in real-time. Palantir was also used to monitor infectious disease trends and ship critical medicines and supplies to the areas with the greatest need.

“[The partnership] took technology originally intended for the intelligence community and put it to work predicting where medicine, food and clothing needs would be greatest…saving valuable gas money, travel time and logistics work,” reported Neal Ungerleider in Fast Company.

Direct Relief is excited to continue working together with Palantir to better assist those in need after disaster, a sentiment shared by Dr. Alexander Karp , founder and CEO of Palantir Technologies.

“The global challenge of humanitarian relief following a natural disaster is one of the most important problems of our time,” said Dr. Karp in a press release. “We are delighted to join the Clinton Global Initiative, and to work with Team Rubicon and Direct Relief. Together we can make a big difference.”

The post Palantir Expands Commitment to Help Improve Disaster Response appeared first on Direct Relief.