In 2023, the Salvadoran Foundation for Health and Human Development—known by its Spanish acronym, FUSAL—launched a nationwide push to strengthen the medical oxygen supply for emergency services. The organization found that many patients dependent on oxygen therapy could not be transported to their homes or other facilities due to a lack of oxygen cylinders and other equipment in emergency vehicles.

“Many ambulances in El Salvador were operating without oxygen,” said Dr. Katty Tobar de Rivas, Chief of Humanitarian Aid at FUSAL. “Some patients had to spend more time admitted in hospitals, dependent on oxygen, because there wasn’t a cylinder available to take them home.”

To help fill the gap, Direct Relief provided FUSAL with a $25,000 grant for the organization to purchase and deploy 220 refillable oxygen cylinders and tanks, 50 pressure regulators, nearly 2,000 adult masks, and 23 portable oxygen systems to the public sector and to vulnerable patients. The tanks and related respiratory therapy equipment went to 19 ambulances in the national emergency network and three emergency operations centers managed by the Salvadoran Red Cross.

“It made an immediate difference,” said Loli Sangiovanni, Director of Donor Relations at the FUSAL’s sister foundation, the Salvadoran American Humanitarian Foundation, or SAHF. “Something as simple as a tank of oxygen has had a lifesaving impact.”

Some portable systems are being loaned to patients on long-term oxygen therapy for use at home. This critical intervention is essential for those with chronic pulmonary obstructive disease, lung cancer, and other respiratory illnesses.

“In 2022, we only had three oxygen concentrators, but thanks to the donation, we are now able to support more patients,” said Audy Echeverria, Coordinator and Therapist for the Salvadoran Red Cross’s Home Continuous Oxygen Program.

Among the many patients benefiting from the equipment is Graciela Pérez de Sirbrián, who has relied on oxygen for 12 years. “Whenever I go out, I have to use a cylinder to attend a medical appointment,” said Graciela. Thanks to support from FUSAL, SAHF, Direct Relief, and the Salvadoran Red Cross, she now has a portable oxygen concentrator and other necessary equipment at her home in San Juan Tepezontes.

Without projects like this, many low-income Salvadorans have no access to oxygen outside hospitals. According to a federal census in 2020, only one in four people in El Salvador were covered under some kind of health insurance. “In this country, the system sometimes provides equipment, but it’s insufficient,” Dr. Tobar de Rivas said. “People without insurance look for institutions like the Red Cross or the National Emergency System to receive the service for free, because they don’t have the purchasing power to pay for it.”

The new supplies have allowed those institutions to reach more patients and ease pressure on public hospitals. “Now they can continue their treatment at home,” Tobar de Rivas said.

According to Sangiovanni, the donation also strengthened the country’s emergency health services at large. “Thanks to this support, the response capacity for frontline organizations in El Salvador was very much improved,” she said. “It was something the country needed, and it continues to make an impact.”

FUSAL, SAHF, and Direct Relief have a long history of responding to disasters in El Salvador, dating as far back as the deadly mudslides and flooding in the country in 2011 and as recent as a similar disaster event last year. The organizations also recently collaborated on a project to strengthen El Salvador’s vaccine cold chain system.

Since 2024, Direct Relief has provided 12 shipments of urgently needed medicines and medical supplies to FUSAL totaling more than $17 million in value.

The post From Ambulances to Homes, Oxygen Brings Relief to Salvadoran Patients appeared first on Direct Relief.

“The Yazidis have been forgotten by the world,” said Gier Fjeld, head of international operations at the Medical Initiative Norway, speaking from his office in Iraqi Kurdistan in late 2024.

Public support programs for displaced Yazidis, refugees, and other vulnerable people in the region were canceled or discontinued beginning in 2023. People living in camps for safety have been told to return to their homes in hostile areas, where their safety will be at severe risk. Yazidi women, many of them victims of sexual violence, were widowed by the genocide, and now struggle to pay for food, water, and medicine for their families. Fjeld said many have been forced into prostitution to feed their children.

“When you remove all the services — food, water, safety, and medical care — you force the Yazidis out of the camps. They’ll create temporary settlements in abandoned buildings, without any access to safety,” he explained.

The loss of public funding has caused suspended services, closed camps, and severely limited the regional healthcare system, which is responsible for more than a million refugees and internally displaced people. The Duhok Directorate of Health, a public health authority in Iraqi Kurdistan, cares for people, including Yazidis, in camps and other temporary settlements. While medical providers are available to care for patients, even going without pay for long periods in some cases, medicine shortages are a serious issue for people with cancer and other chronic diseases.

“Getting diagnosed is not a problem. The problem is the treatment. Most people are referred to private treatment,” which they can’t afford, explained an aid worker stationed in Iraqi Kurdistan, who asked to speak anonymously to preserve their safety while working in the field, during a 2024 Direct Relief interview. They have been working in the region since 2014.

“If you have a chronic disease, and you are without medication, there’s no stability. You might receive some…medication this month, but you might not for the next two months,” Fjeld said.

Partnering closely with the Duhok DOH, Direct Relief has mobilized over $144 million in cancer drugs alone to Iraqi Kurdistan since 2020. The organization has also provided partners in the region with emergency preparedness and response items, such as field medic packs, insulin and other medications for non-communicable diseases, and other requested items – totaling more than $156 million and 1,300 tons since 2016.

“Direct Relief is the largest contributor of aid to the Directorate of Health in Duhok, securing life-saving medications for thousands of patients throughout the Kurdish region of Iraq,” wrote Dr. Lazgin Jamil, a pediatric oncologist with the DOH, in an email. “As the DOH continues to suffer from lack of medication…in addition to lack of funds to purchase medicines and medical consumables, we are grateful beyond words for the incredible support from Direct Relief.”

Fjeld explained that a patient with symptoms of cancer might be referred to a public health facility for diagnosis: “They’ll have a bed, doctors, and nurses,” but without outside support, there would be “no cancer medications.”

“Because of Direct Relief’s support the cancer medicine is there and freely available,” he said. The partnership is “saving thousands of children suffering from cancer.”

Iraqi Kurdistan is largely out of the media spotlight right now, said the on-the-ground aid worker, which means that it’s often overlooked as a potential location for donor support. However, they emphasized, the dedicated public health providers, strong logistical network, and close partnerships make it an especially effective place to establish and deliver a system of longer-term medical support.

Direct Relief’s shipments of oncology supplies and other medications have also freed up room in healthcare budgets, allowing organizations working in the region to offer more services. Fjeld explained that providing medications alone might be half the monthly cost of running a camp, but “Direct Relief is giving medicines for free.”

“It’s been a very successful program, beyond what I ever imagined,” the aid worker noted. “It’s really been amazing what we’ve been able to pull off.”

The post In Iraqi Kurdistan, Medicines Support a Displaced People appeared first on Direct Relief.

The awards, totaling $750,000, are part of a multi-year initiative now in its sixth year, funded by the Baxter Foundation – the philanthropic arm of Baxter International – and implemented by Direct Relief. The program supports community health centers and free and charitable clinics in developing programs that integrate nutrition education with chronic disease management and mental health services.

The following organizations will receive funding to support 18-month programs:

• Tampa Family Health Centers – Tampa, Florida – A federally qualified health center serving Tampa’s diverse communities, has launched a weight loss program using lifestyle medicine that integrates nutritional education, physical activity support, behavioral health counseling, and emotional wellness coaching.

• Faith Community Pharmacy – Newport, Kentucky – A charitable pharmacy serving low-income residents across the region has brought together multiple community partners to address barriers to implementing healthy habits and social determinants of health.

• Aaron E. Henry Community Health Services Center – Clarksdale, Mississippi – A community health center serving rural Mississippi Delta communities, started the Healthy Weight and Wellness Program, addressing critical health challenges, implementing innovative treatment, nutritional access, and education strategies.

• St. Vincent de Paul Charitable Pharmacy – Cincinnati, Ohio – A charitable pharmacy providing medication access to uninsured and underinsured patients, created a program that offers culturally and economically responsive education tailored to each patient’s lived experience, demonstrating an important step toward advancing health equity.

• NeoMed Center – Gurabo, Puerto Rico – A community health center serving rural Puerto Rico with both fixed and mobile health services, developed the Integrated Nutrition Prescription program targeting patients with chronic conditions, food insecurity, and behavioral health conditions.

Addressing Critical Health Disparities

Community health centers and free and charitable clinics serve as the medical home for over 36 million people living in medically underserved areas across the United States. Patients at these facilities experience significantly higher rates of multiple chronic conditions compared to the general population, with 35% higher chances of having at least one chronic condition and 31% higher odds of having two or more chronic conditions.

“Nutrition is fundamental to managing chronic disease, yet many people face significant barriers in accessing healthy food and nutrition education,” said Maris Steward, program manager & regional analyst at Direct Relief. “These awards enable safety net providers to develop innovative, culturally appropriate programs that address health disparities in their communities.”

Program Impact and Innovation

The Transformative Innovation Awards support integrated healthcare models that go beyond traditional clinical care. Awardees will leverage community partnerships to expand outreach and education, creating comprehensive approaches to chronic disease management that incorporate nutrition counseling and mental health services.

“At Baxter and through the Baxter Foundation, we recognize that effective healthcare extends far beyond clinic and hospital walls and to the everyday lives of people and patients,” said Verónica Arroyave, vice president of corporate responsibility and global philanthropy at Baxter and executive director of the Baxter Foundation. “By supporting community health centers in implementing nutrition-focused programs, we’re investing in innovative, sustainable approaches to address the social determinants of health and advance resiliency in the communities we serve.”

The post Direct Relief, Baxter Foundation Announce 2025 Transformative Innovation Awards in Community Health appeared first on Direct Relief.

Youngblood, a store manager who currently works 13-hour shifts starting at 4:30 a.m., had no insurance. And she was getting worse by the day. Youngblood left a message for Wheeling Health Right, a local free clinic. “That was Tuesday,” she said. “On Wednesday, they said Wheeling Hospital is waiting for you for x-rays. No paperwork. I don’t have health insurance because I can’t afford it. Health Right said, ‘If the hospital sends you a bill, you bring it to us.’”

“Next thing I knew, I had a Z-Pak [antibiotics],” she said.

Wheeling Health Right is the only free clinic in the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia, serving uninsured and underinsured residents across several counties from Brooke to Tyler, an area shaped by decades of industrial decline and a significant drop in population. According to the latest census data from 2020, 124,670 people live in the Northern Panhandle, a decline of nearly 6 percent compared to 2010.

In 2024, the clinic logged about 29,000 patient visits across medical, dental, and pharmacy appointments. The clinic also partners with organizations, including the West Virginia University Eye Institute, to provide heavily discounted care.

“I can honestly tell you I get better care there than I have with any primary care physician,” Youngblood said. “I’m not saying that just to say it, I mean it. They take the time to get to know you personally, they’re so compassionate.”

She said the clinic’s responsiveness has been consistent, even during holidays. “It was a holiday, a Friday, and the clinic was closed. I got out of work late, and couldn’t make it in time to get my prescription. I left a message, and Don, the pharmacist, called me back and asked, ‘Do you need your meds today? I’ll meet you down there.’ They’re just all good people.”

She also survived a stroke five years ago, and now takes several daily medications, including one that costs about $700 a month without assistance.

Beyond acute illnesses, Youngblood depends on inhalers to manage COPD, chronic lung disease. “That inhaler is a lifesaver,” she said. “Without Health Right and that inhaler, I’d probably die.”

Clinic Key in Fragile Local System

Like Youngblood, many of Wheeling Health Right’s patients fall into coverage gaps, as they earn too much to qualify for certain safety net programs, yet are unable to afford private insurance premiums or high deductibles. Hospital closures across the area have made access even more limited, pushing more people toward the few ERs still operating.

“The need for care in our region is huge,” said Anne Ricci, executive director of Wheeling Health Right.

During a recent phone interview with Direct Relief, clinic leaders say that geography and transportation barriers routinely keep patients from attending appointments, especially when breathing problems worsen. Even for those with some insurance coverage, high deductibles, inconsistent pharmacy benefits, and Medicare Part D gaps mean essential medications are often unaffordable.

For the past year, the clinic has been able to draw on a multi-year donation of albuterol inhalers supplied by Teva Pharmaceuticals U.S. via Direct Relief, creating a reliable and consistent supply of the medications.

The inhalers have become one of the most heavily used resources in the pharmacy, said Don Rebich, a pharmacist at the clinic, and the person who Youngblood recalled came to meet her after the clinic was closed during a holiday. Since January, Wheeling Health Right has received albuterol inhalers and dispensed them to patients at no cost.

“Retail prices [for inhalers] can reach $100 or more, so many patients with chronic respiratory problems simply go without treatment,” said Rebich.

“And that shouldn’t be an option,” Ricci added, before her colleague, Linda Shelek, a nurse practitioner and clinic coordinator, chimed in, “and then they end up in the emergency room.”

Some patients have pharmacy coverage that may exclude certain medications altogether. The donated supply allows same-day dispensing and helps stabilize breathing before patients deteriorate.

The need for inhalers often intensifies during emergencies. Ricci shared that, after a recent flood, one patient with chronic lung disease lost his only rescue inhaler while clearing mold-damaged debris from his home.

He was able to get a same-day refill from the clinic’s pharmacy and return safely to cleanup work. In Triadelphia, where flooding disrupted access to medications across multiple neighborhoods, the clinic has been providing no-cost albuterol refills throughout the ongoing recovery effort.

Other patients face chronic challenges that don’t require a disaster to impede their lives. One woman living at the YWCA struggled to climb three flights of stairs with untreated asthma until she enrolled in the program and received a no-cost inhaler, allowing her to manage daily tasks and keep medical appointments.

To address increasing healthcare access challenges, Ricci said the clinic is working to expand partnerships and mobile services while continuing to apply for grants from state and local organizations. Maintaining access to donated medications, Ricci said, remains essential for their patients, including Youngblood.

“What would be my workaround without Health Right?” Youngblood said. “I honestly don’t know.”

The post For Patients in West Virginia, a Free Clinic and Donated Inhalers Mean Survival appeared first on Direct Relief.

For teens in recovery from substance misuse, walking into therapy can be a challenging experience. Many carry the weight of anxiety, depression, ADHD, or other co-occurring psychiatric conditions. And for young people who are part of marginalized groups, traditional treatment settings can feel intimidating, clinical, or simply unsafe.

But when Pauletta, a therapy dog, joined sessions during a pilot project in early 2023, something remarkable happened. Teens completed twice as many sessions when Pauletta was in the room compared to those without a canine companion in the session.

That initial success led to the Canine Assisted Therapy program, which is designed to transform how Denver Health’s therapists provide care among the approximately 800 young people served each year.

While animal-assisted therapy has shown promise in other populations—veterans with PTSD, individuals with autism—there’s been no standardized curriculum for therapists working with adolescents in community mental health settings. The goal is clear of the program at Denver Health is clear: to help teens complete the critical 90-day threshold of treatment that research shows predicts positive outcomes.

Through a partnership with Victory Service Dogs, an organization specializing in training dogs for veterans, Denver Health’s program is training three therapy dogs. Three therapists have been selected to participate, learning not just how to work alongside their canine partners, but how to integrate dog-assisted therapy into evidence-based treatment for substance misuse.

The Denver Health therapy team has already started to modify the canine therapy program with the hope that the curriculum and evaluation methods could be used to train therapists more broadly.

Direct Relief’s Fund for Health Equity supported the STEP program with a grant via Eli Lilly and Company.

This video was directed, produced, and edited by Oliver Riley-Smith Cinematography.

The post For Teens in Recovery, Dogs Provide Acceptance, Support in a Clinical Setting appeared first on Direct Relief.

Direct Relief is one of just four organizations nationwide included on Charity Navigator’s Best Highly Rated Charities list, which recognizes nonprofits with perfect scores across all of Charity Navigator’s rating metrics.

“These organizations are highly impactful in their given cause area, are fiscally responsible and transparent, and follow leadership and organizational culture best practices,” Charity Navigator notes. “We applaud these charities for being highly impactful and outperforming other organizations performing similar work.”

In addition, Charity Navigator named Direct Relief one of the Best Humanitarian Relief Charities for 2025, highlighting responses to  Hurricane Melissa, the Los Angeles fires, and the humanitarian crises in Sudan and Ukraine. The designation recognizes organizations Charity Navigator deems “extraordinarily effective at what they do.”

Charity Navigator also included Direct Relief on its 2025 list of Household Name Charities, a group of organizations that, as the site explains, “became household names partly because of their exceptional financial management, no easy feat considering the scope and size of their operations. Donors should feel confident that these highly rated national institutions will put their donations to good use.”

Direct Relief’s Charity Navigator Ratings

Direct Relief earned a 100% rating in each of Charity Navigator’s four “beacons”—Accountability & Finance, Leadership & Adaptability, Culture & Community, and Impact & Measurement—and received the highest possible score in every subcategory, from “program expense ratio” to “program planning & design” to “external focus on mobilizing mission.”

Michael Thatcher, President and CEO of Charity Navigator, recognized Direct Relief’s performance, stating: “We are delighted to provide Direct Relief with third-party accreditation that validates their operational excellence. The Four-Star Rating is the highest possible rating an organization can achieve. We are eager to see the good work that Direct Relief can accomplish in the years ahead.”

Humanitarian Impact in 2025

In 2025, Direct Relief made significant strides in advancing its global humanitarian mission, including:

• Delivering Lifesaving Medicines: In the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, Direct Relief distributed 308 million defined daily doses of medicine to more than 2,636 healthcare facilities across 91 countries and all 50 U.S. states. In total, Direct Relief donated pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, and supplies with a wholesale value of $1.9 billion and provided $69 million in grants to healthcare providers around the world.

• Hurricane Responses: Following Hurricane Melissa, Direct Relief dispatched a 757 charter plane carrying 16 tons of medicine and medical supplies to Jamaica, adding to the large quantities of medical supplies already prepositioned in the region prior to landfall, which helped ensure health providers were equipped immediately after the storm.

• Los Angeles Wildfire Response: Direct Relief’s response began within hours of the first spark, with an initial focus on lifesaving support, including deploying prescription medications to shelters, field medic backpacks to first responders, and more than 140,000 N95 respirators to protect residents and emergency personnel from smoke.

• Aid to Ukraine:  Direct Relief has surpassed more than $2 billion in medical and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine since the war began in 2022, making it one of the largest private philanthropic supporters of the country’s health system.

• The Largest Charitable Medicine Program in the U.S.: To help address the lack of affordable prescription medicine in the United States, Direct Relief provides needed medications to nonprofit health centers and clinics that collectively serve about one in 11 people in the country. In its 2025 fiscal year, Direct Relief’s assistance to the U.S. exceeded $300 million.

• Supporting Healthy Mothers: Direct Relief supports health organizations worldwide that provide critically needed maternal and neonatal services throughout pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum care. In its 2025 fiscal year, Direct Relief’s support of midwives helped enable more than 45,000 safe births in 17 countries.

Stewardship and Financial Transparency

Direct Relief is committed to maximizing the impact of every donation, ensuring funds are used responsibly and effectively to support those in need:

• 100% Allocation of Donor-Designated Funds: Every contribution earmarked for specific programs or emergencies is applied exclusively to those purposes, giving donors full assurance that their intent is honored.

• Independently Funded Operations:  Direct Relief operates solely on private charitable contributions, declining government funding to maintain independence and focus on its mission.

• Leveraging In-Kind Contributions: Strategic partnerships with businesses and organizations amplify the impact of donations. Contributions of medicine and medical supplies, valued at their wholesale cost, constitute the majority of Direct Relief’s revenue, allowing cash donations to reach further and support more people.

Additional Nonprofit Recognition

In 2025, Direct Relief received additional independent recognition for humanitarian impact, transparency, and financial stewardship, including:

• Seoul Peace Prize: One of the world’s most distinguished honors for humanitarian achievement, awarded in recognition of Direct Relief’s role in advancing global health and supporting communities affected by disasters and conflict.

• Platinum Transparency Seal from Candid: Signaling the highest level of openness about finances, programs, and results, and enabling donors to see clearly how resources are used.

• A+ Rating from CharityWatch: Along with inclusion on its list of top charities, reflecting exceptional program efficiency, low overhead, and disciplined use of donor funds.

The post Charity Navigator Rates Direct Relief 100% for 2025 appeared first on Direct Relief.

Imagine a mother watching her child grow thinner. Always thirsty. Always tired.

Finally, a nurse checks the child’s blood sugar. The diagnosis: Type 1 diabetes.

Treatment is costly, but the hospital connects the family to a program that provides insulin at no cost.

Soon, mornings begin with a finger-prick before school. Meals are planned. Routines change— but hope returns.

The child goes back to class, back to being a kid, back to having a future.

I heard versions of this story over and over from mothers in Ghana, each describing how a diagnosis reshapes every rhythm at home — and how access to insulin reshapes the outcome.

Now multiply that experience by millions.

The Global Diabetes Burden

Diabetes is one of the fastest growing health emergencies of the 21st century.

• Over USD $1 trillion was spent on diabetes in 2024; this represents 12% of global health expenditure.
• 589 million adults (ages 20–79) live with diabetes today — roughly 1 in 9 adults.
• An estimated 9.1 million people are living with Type 1 diabetes and need insulin to stay alive.
• 4 in 5 adults with diabetes (81%) live in a low and middle-income country.
• More than 3.4 million people died from diabetes in 2024, accounting for nearly 10% of all deaths worldwide.

For people who rely on insulin, survival depends on access — and on something far more mundane: the ability to keep that insulin between 2–8°C.

A simple refrigerator can mean the difference between a functioning medicine and a life-threatening shortage.

That’s why, with support from Eli Lilly, Direct Relief is purchasing and installing hundreds of medical-grade refrigerators in resource-limited settings around the world.

The refrigerator may be the least interesting part of this story.  But without it, there’s no story to tell.

Expanding Access to Diabetes Care Globally

Direct Relief expands access to essential diabetes treatment in communities with the highest need, including in the U.S.

• Since 2010, Direct Relief has delivered more than $1 billion in diabetes medicines and supplies to more than 50 countries.

One of the most impactful partnerships in this work is Life for a Child. which supports underserved children and youth living with Type 1 diabetes.

• Direct Relief’s partnership with Life for a Child provides access to insulin and injection devices to over 59,000 children and youth living with Type 1 diabetes in 40+ countries.
• The partnership aims to reach 100,000 children and youth living with Type 1 diabetes in 60 countries by 2030.

Behind each number is a child who can safely go to school, a family who can plan for tomorrow, and a community that doesn’t lose its future to a preventable crisis.

Supporting Children in the U.S.

In the United States, Direct Relief also helps ensure that children with Type 1 diabetes can experience something every child deserves — the chance to simply be a kid.

• Over the past five years, more than $3.5 million in donated medicines and supplies have supported these camps.
• Direct Relief supported 115 diabetes summer camps across the U.S. in 2025, serving more than 18,864 children.

On World Diabetes Day — and Every Day

World Diabetes Day is a reminder that the systems needed to manage diabetes — access to insulin, trained providers, reliable cold storage, and continuous monitoring — are not yet guaranteed for millions of people.

But they can be.

And with strong partners, targeted investments, and a focus on the people behind the statistics, they will be.

Thank you for being part of this work, and for supporting efforts that make life with diabetes safer, healthier, and possible — everywhere.

— Amy

Direct Relief: Hope Ahead.

The post World Diabetes Day: The Small Things That Make Survival Possible appeared first on Direct Relief.

Direct Relief has supplied the camp with more than $130,000 in essential diabetes management materials since 2013. Recognizing the increasing frequency of power outages caused by high winds, storms, and public safety power shutoffs, the organization expanded its support in 2024 through a Power for Health initiative grant to install a 12-unit battery backup system.

The system powers the medical center and kitchen, helping safeguard insulin, food, and critical device charging—an essential protection for the camp’s remote location, where power disruptions are frequent.

With this added resilience, campers and staff can focus on creating lifelong memories and building community within an often-isolating disease. Direct Relief staff visited during the summer session to document the impact, and the resulting video offers a visual look into the magic and transformational experiences had at Bearskin Meadow Camp.

Over the past five years, Direct Relief has provided more than $3.5 million in donated medicines and supplies to kids’ camps around the U.S. In 2025, Direct Relief supported 115 camps, serving more than 18,000 campers.

The post Supporting Kids with Type 1 Diabetes at Bearskin Meadow Camp appeared first on Direct Relief.

Knight, a nurse practitioner at the Diabetes Association of Jamaica, or DAJ, had given the patient’s family new supplies – a blood glucose meter and the vital medications needed to manage their child’s Type 1 diabetes – at a health fair in August. “It had been washed away” as Hurricane Melissa swept across western Jamaica, Knight told Direct Relief.

She contacted a doctor, who was able to call the child’s prescriptions into a nearby pharmacy. A volunteer picked it up and drove it to Catherine Hall, the Montego Bay community where the family lives.

Managing diabetes demands a precise care regimen and reliable access to supplies and medications – including insulin, which must be stored and transported at cold temperatures under painstaking monitoring conditions.

But in the aftermath of a disaster, whether it’s a hurricane, fire, or flood, people with diabetes are often forced to flee without these lifesaving components, or their medicines and supplies are destroyed.

For Knight and DAJ chairman Steven Chen, what was most concerning was that they weren’t hearing more patient stories like that.

“We have patients through Life for a Child [an international nonprofit that supports children with diabetes in countries around the world] in pretty much all of these communities,” Chen said of Jamaica’s hurricane-struck western districts.

Staff at the diabetes association had been reaching out to clinicians and pharmacists across the country to get a better sense of the scale of need.

“There are still a lot of communities that are still inaccessible, and a lot of helicopter drops,” Chen said. But a long history of responding to the needs of patients with diabetes had given staff some idea what to expect: “We know there will be complications later on.”

Diabetes is a serious public health concern in Jamaica. Approximately 235,000 people, about 12% of the population, have been diagnosed with the non-communicable disease.

Direct Relief has worked with the DAJ for years, providing insulin and other support for diabetes treatment. The organization’s support “is what we distribute across the length and breadth of Jamaica,” Chen explained.

On November 11, Direct Relief delivered a large-scale shipment of insulin – enough to support annual treatment for about 300 children with Type 1 diabetes – to the DAJ. The DAJ will also receive a $20,000 Direct Relief emergency grant, which Chen explained will be used to purchase blood glucose meters, lancets (for taking blood samples), blood pressure machines, and other equipment and supplies.

In addition, Direct Relief provided 16 tons of medicines and supplies worth more than $1 million, including diabetes medications and other essential medical treatments, to Jamaica’s Ministry of Health and Wellness via a chartered Boeing 757 cargo plane.

For patients in Haiti, Direct Relief provided a shipment of insulin – enough to treat 100 children with Type 1 diabetes for a year – to La Fondation Haïtienne de Diabète et de Maladies Cardiovasculaires, a Haitian diabetes organization and long-term partner.

The Diabetes Association of Jamaica travels across the country to provide insulin and other components of diabetes care to patients. They work directly with the country’s National Health Fund and with Life for a Child. DAJ staff include a doctor and nurse practitioner who can provide clinic services, and the National Health Fund “can distribute the insulin on the spot,” Chen explained.

DAJ staff provide meters, lancets, and other supplies – and, after a disaster like Hurricane Melissa, they’ll distribute soap, toothbrushes, blankets, tents, and other hygiene and shelter materials to keep their patients from developing further health issues.

Through about three outreaches each week, they’ll reach thousands of patients per year, Knight said. Last year, the DAJ reached more than 7,000 patients.

“We transport where the needs are. It’s better managed that way,” Chen explained. Currently, DAJ staff are preparing for the go-ahead to begin providing services and medicine to patients in Hanover, Black River, Saint Elizabeth, and other areas severely affected by Melissa. “We’re guided by the pharmacists in those locations” to know how much is needed and where,

DAJ staff are also concerned about nutritional needs. Western Jamaicans experienced widespread loss of food, crops, and potable water. The food that’s available to people severely affected by disaster tends to be high in carbohydrates and low in nutrients, with a high percentage of canned and processed foods. Diabetes patients need to carefully manage their blood sugar, and high-quality, nutritious food is an important component of their care.

Distributing processed or canned foods “solves the need of hunger, but, later on, the complications of that” emerge for diabetes patients, Chen said. In many affected areas, he explained, nutrition was already an ongoing issue: “A lot of the low-income communities can’t afford proper nutrition on a regular basis.”

Chen estimated that it would take three to four years to get many of Jamaica’s diabetes patients back to equilibrium.

“There’s always need in terms of diabetes patients,” he said.

In response to Hurricane Melissa, Direct Relief has provided $2 million in material medical aid and $120,000 in grant funding to affected countries.

Sofie Blomst contributed reporting to this story.

The post Damaged Food, Medications Swept Away: Hurricane Melissa Profoundly Affected Patients with Diabetes appeared first on Direct Relief.

In 2025, embecta donated approximately 15 million units of pen needles and insulin syringes to Direct Relief. Through 2026, embecta and Direct Relief will continue their partnership to provide pen needle and insulin syringe access to those most in need across the globe. This major commitment represents embecta’s largest humanitarian partnership since becoming an independent company and will support Direct Relief’s comprehensive diabetes programs serving vulnerable populations both domestically and internationally.

“As we mark World Diabetes Day, embecta is proud to deepen our commitment to ensuring that everyone living with diabetes—regardless of their ability to pay or where they live—has access to the supplies they need,” said Dev Kurdikar, Chief Executive Officer, embecta. “Since becoming an independent company, we have focused on empowering people with diabetes while paving the way for a life unlimited for all. This partnership with Direct Relief helps extend that mission to those who need it most.”

Supporting Underserved Patients Nationwide

embecta’s donation will significantly expand Direct Relief’s ability to serve uninsured and low-income patients with diabetes through Direct Relief’s safety net support program. Direct Relief partners with more than 1,600 community health centers and free and charitable clinics across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, serving more than 36 million patients—including one in five of America’s uninsured.

Through this program, embecta’s diabetes products, including syringes, pen needles, and diabetes management supplies, will reach patients who cannot afford insurance and do not qualify for Medicaid, ensuring they have consistent, uninterrupted access to the tools essential for managing their diabetes.

“Direct Relief welcomes embecta’s extraordinary commitment to expanding diabetes care access,” said Amy Weaver, CEO, Direct Relief. “We are one of the largest charitable insulin providers worldwide and in the U.S., and embecta’s support will help us impact thousands of lives—from children with Type 1 diabetes through our support of the international Life for a Child program to increasing access for underserved patients at safety net clinics nationwide.”

Global Impact: Supporting Children and Adults with Type 1 Diabetes

Internationally, embecta’s products support Direct Relief’s partnership with Life for a Child, which provides life-sustaining diabetes care to children and young people with Type 1 diabetes in resource-limited countries. Direct Relief has supported Life for a Child since 2011 and currently helps provide care to more than 53,000 children and young people with Type 1 diabetes in 45 countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.

Through Direct Relief’s Global Diabetes Partnership with the International Diabetes Federation, embecta’s donated pen needles and syringes support people living with diabetes in more than 30 countries experiencing crises or facing significant gaps in healthcare access.

Most recently, in collaboration with Direct Relief, embecta donated 2.7 million insulin needles and syringes to support an upcoming humanitarian response campaign in Sudan. This campaign is organized by the Sudanese Diabetes Federation and other regional charitable stakeholders. The donation highlights embecta’s and Direct Relief’s shared commitment to providing life-saving diabetes care in regions affected by humanitarian crises.

Empowering Young People Through Diabetes Education

embecta’s commitment also extends to Direct Relief’s support of the Diabetes Education & Camping Association’s, or DECA’s, network and diabetes camps nationwide. These camps provide children and young adults with diabetes with the opportunity to learn diabetes management skills, build confidence, and connect with peers while enjoying outdoor activities in a medically supervised environment. embecta’s past donations of pen needles, insulin syringes, sharps containers, and other essential supplies ensure these life-changing camp experiences can continue serving thousands of young people each year.

Emergency Response and Ongoing Support

The partnership includes continued emergency response capabilities, building on embecta’s July 2025 grant of $25,000 to Direct Relief for Texas storm and flood relief. This ensures that people with diabetes receive uninterrupted care even during natural disasters and humanitarian crises.

The Diabetes Crisis

According to the International Diabetes Federation, more than 537 million people worldwide are living with diabetes—a number projected to reach 783 million by 2045. In the United States, approximately 38 million Americans have diabetes, yet access to affordable care and supplies remains a critical challenge, particularly for uninsured and underinsured populations. Diabetes is responsible for 6.7 million deaths worldwide annually, with mortality rates directly correlated to economic stability and healthcare access.

The post embecta Announces Major New Commitment to Direct Relief on World Diabetes Day appeared first on Direct Relief.

The grants were disbursed from Direct Relief’s Fund for Health Equity, with support from Sanofi, and will address chronic respiratory diseases, including asthma, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The funds will support prevention, education, and improved care for both children and adult patients. Community health centers in Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, where Sanofi has a significant presence, are receiving the awards.

“Respiratory conditions, including asthma, disproportionately impact vulnerable communities. These funds will directly support organizations working to address and prevent these life-altering conditions,” said Dr. Byron Scott, Direct Relief’s President and Chief Operating Officer and Co-Chair of the Fund for Health Equity. “I am humbled that both Sanofi and Direct Relief can help these organizations with their goals of improving the health of people seeking care.”

Direct Relief’s Fund for Health Equity mobilizes financial resources for community health centers, free and charitable clinics, and other nonprofit organizations focused on non-clinical interventions that affect a person’s health – commonly known as the social determinants of health. These factors include a person’s physical, social, cultural, and economic environments.

Sanofi’s donation is part of the company’s “Breathe Easier” campaign, which focuses on the intersection of the environment and human health, and supports communities experiencing a high burden of respiratory illness.

“We are proud to support Direct Relief’s Fund for Health Equity and the 10 centers that will lead the way in improving respiratory care in many communities,” said Diana Blankman, Head of U.S. Corporate Social Responsibility at Sanofi. “We strongly believe in the development of community-based solutions by those who know best how to provide culturally relevant care to the patients they serve.”

The funding will support the following 10 health centers’ efforts:

• Brockton Neighborhood Health Center – Brockton, MA
• Codman Square Health Center – Dorchester, MA
• Holyoke Health Center – Holyoke, MA
• Greater Lawrence Family Health Center – Methuen, MA
• Caring Health Center – Springfield, MA
• Zufall Health Center – Dover, NJ
• Henry J. Austin Health Center – Trenton, NJ
• Valley Health Partners – Allentown, PA
• Delaware Valley Community Health – Philadelphia, PA
• Spectrum Foundation for Health Equity and Community Impact – Philadelphia, PA

The post Direct Relief Awards $2 Million to 10 Community Health Centers appeared first on Direct Relief.

Although women account for half of the world’s population, persistent gaps in healthcare funding, research, and access leave many without essential care.

Direct Relief’s maternal and child health program equips midwives and frontline health workers with the tools, medicines, and supplies needed to ensure safer pregnancies and deliveries. Direct Relief provides midwife kits (each supporting 50 safe births) and perinatal health kits stocked with medications and tools needed to treat life-threatening conditions affecting women and newborns. Together, these resources enable midwives and healthcare professionals to deliver compassionate care in communities where 94% of maternal deaths occur.

In 2024 alone, Direct Relief delivered more than 1,000 maternal and child health kits to healthcare partners in 27 countries — resources that enabled more than 65,000 safe births, surgeries, and pregnancy interventions. With this award, the organization plans to expand access to these life-saving resources, aiming to distribute more than 6,000 midwife kits over the next three years, supporting approximately 300,000 safe deliveries.

“We are deeply honored to be selected as an awardee of Action for Women’s Health at such a pivotal moment,” said Amy Weaver, Chief Executive Officer at Direct Relief. “The need for high-quality care during pregnancy and childbirth is growing rapidly in underserved communities around the world. This recognition and support will enable Direct Relief to expand its work to reach more women, more midwives, and more health facilities with the tools needed to save lives. While this award provides a powerful boost, it also underscores just how much more must be done to ensure every woman and every newborn has the chance for a safe, healthy future.”

After a rigorous evaluation by experts and peers in global health — reviewing more than 4,000 applications from 119 countries — Direct Relief was selected as one of 80 awardees recognized for advancing maternal and child health.

Action for Women’s Health is funded by Pivotal, a group of impact organizations founded by Melinda French Gates, and managed by Lever for Change, an organization with a track record of identifying bold ideas to solve the world’s most pressing problems.

Building on this recognition, Direct Relief is accelerating the scale of its maternal and child health program to meet the rapidly growing demand for essential health services for women and newborns in the world’s most underserved communities. While this award marks a significant and meaningful step forward, it represents only a fraction of what is needed to address the vast and urgent gaps in maternal health access worldwide.

By deepening local partnerships, reinforcing supply chains, and equipping midwives with the tools they need to deliver lifesaving care, Direct Relief remains committed to advancing health equity and ensuring that every woman—no matter where she lives—has the chance for a safe birth and a healthy start for her child.

Learn more about Direct Relief’s global maternal health initiatives and how to support them.

The post Direct Relief Recognized as Action for Women’s Health Awardee for Expanding Global Maternal Care appeared first on Direct Relief.

The storm, known as Uwan in the Philippines, was notable for its size, which measured about 1,000 miles across, about the distance from New York City to Miami. It made landfall with sustained winds of more than 115 miles per hour and gusts reaching 145 miles per hour.

Local footage showed storm surges flooding homes and streets, turning roads into flowing rivers. Government offices and schools are closed in Luzon, which includes the capital of Manila.

In the wake of hurricanes and other natural disasters, vulnerable populations, including elderly residents, people with disabilities, children, and those in remote or low-income communities, often face acute healthcare challenges. When power lines are down and roads blocked, access to essential medicines, medical care, and electricity-dependent equipment can become impeded, leading to life-threatening concerns. Hospitals and clinics can struggle to operate on limited generator power, while pharmacies and cold-storage facilities lose vital supplies.

Super Typhoon Fung-wong hit the Philippines less than a week after Typhoon Kalmaegi devastated the central Philippines, killing more than 220 people. Search and rescue efforts in the central Cebu province had to be suspended Sunday as the latest typhoon arrived.

In Negros Island, located west of Cebu, Typhoon Kalmaegi triggered severe flooding and landslides in several upland communities. In Canlaon City, heavy rainfall dislodged large boulders and volcanic debris from the slopes of Mt. Kanlaon, damaging houses, roads, and farmlands. Communities in the foothills of the volcano are already on high alert as it is currently under Alert Level 2 due to ongoing steam-driven eruptions. 

A “state of national calamity,” declared after Typhoon Kalmaegi, will remain in effect for another year, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Monday.

The typhoon is now trending towards Taiwan, where torrential downpours are expected.

Direct Relief’s Response

Direct Relief is supporting local NGO PH-Wadah, which has operations in Cebu and a birthing center in Aborlan, Palawan, with emergency operating funds. In Palawan, heavy rains and strong winds from the storms caused flooding in low-lying areas and disrupted access to health facilities, affecting maternal and child health services.

Direct Relief is also in communication with the Philippines Disaster Resilience Foundation about potential medical needs, as well as ASEAN Coordinating Center for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management, or AHA Center. The organization coordinates disaster response efforts across ASEAN countries, which include Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

ASEAN member countries combined have a population of 640 million people, and these 10 countries sit on or near the “Ring of Fire,” the zone around the Pacific Ocean that is prone to natural disasters like earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

In addition to regular donations of medicines and medical supplies, Direct Relief has mobilized and launched major organizational responses to disasters in the region, including the Indian Ocean Tsunami (Indonesia, 2004), Cyclone Nargis (Myanmar, 2008), Typhoon Haiyan (The Philippines, 2013), Sulawesi and Lombok earthquakes (Indonesia, 2018) and Covid-19 pandemic response throughout Southeast Asia.

Direct Relief will continue to monitor the storm and respond to medical needs as they become known.

The post Deadly Super Typhoon Slams the Philippines, Latest in a Sequence of Storms appeared first on Direct Relief.

The 757 carried more than $1 million worth of medicines and supplies — including antibiotics, diabetes medicines, first aid items, and water purification tablets — and was organized in consultation with the Jamaican Ministry of Health and tailored to the country’s specific requests.

The medical aid will backstop the country’s health system as it continues to recover from Hurricane Melissa, the Category 5 storm that made landfall in Jamaica near the town of Black River on Oct. 28 before moving across Cuba and the Bahamas.

The storm left a path of widespread devastation across the Caribbean, causing catastrophic flooding, extensive damage to homes and health facilities, and displacing hundreds of thousands of people.

In Jamaica, the storm severely damaged hospitals and clinics — including Black River Hospital and multiple primary health centers across Saint Elizabeth and Saint James parishes — disrupting care for patients and leaving many facilities without power, water, or essential supplies.

Jamaica’s Ministry of Health and Wellness is working to restore services and mobilize community health centers to handle outpatient care and triage cases while hospitals focus on emergencies.

Direct Relief staff were in Kingston today to receive the flight, which carried a gross payload of 32,514 pounds of medical aid. In addition to medical items, the airlift includes thousands of 30% DEET insect repellent towelettes and repellent spray bottles requested by the MOH. Public health officials in both Jamaica and the Dominican Republic fear an increase in mosquito populations and mosquito-borne illness due to the precipitation and standing water left by the hurricane.

Direct Relief’s Ongoing Hurricane Melissa Response

Saturday’s charter flight is the latest in Direct Relief’s response to Hurricane Melissa, and builds on years of partnership and investment with ministries of health and healthcare providers across the Caribbean.

Direct Relief is working in close coordination with the Jamaica’s Ministry of Health and Wellness, the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management, PAHO, and other response agencies across the Caribbean to restore essential health services and meet urgent medical resource needs.

Because of these long-term relationships, essential medicines and supplies were already on the ground and immediately available to support Jamaica’s health system when the storm struck.

How Direct Relief Is Supporting Jamaica

In the month before landfall, Direct Relief shipped more than $100,000 in medicines to Jamaica — inventories that were already positioned for immediate use once the storm hit.

Within days of landfall, Direct Relief delivered emergency medical supplies to support first responders, health workers, and displaced residents. Direct Relief also awarded the JAHJAH Foundation a $50,000 emergency grant to provide food, hygiene products, safe drinking water, and temporary shelter through its network of local clinics and community centers.

The organization has deployed an emergency response team to Jamaica to assess health-system needs, coordinate logistics, and support the Ministry’s ongoing recovery operations.

Regional Assistance in Cuba and Haiti

Direct Relief continues to mobilize large-scale infusions of requested emergency medical aid to affected countries throughout the Caribbean, including Jamaica, Cuba, and Haiti, with additional assistance en route.

Across the region, damage to health systems in Cuba and Haiti has further strained access to care, with thousands of homes and health facilities affected. In Haiti, health workers are warning of renewed cholera risks following major flooding.

Through its partnership with PAHO, Direct Relief is mobilizing over $500,000 in medical aid for Cuba, including field medic packs and additional shipments staged in Panama ahead of hurricane season.

In Haiti, Direct Relief is preparing a shipment of essential medicines and supplies requested by long-term partner Hope for Haiti, which operates mobile clinics and a fixed facility in the hard-hit city of Les Cayes.

Preparedness and Long-Term Capacity

Direct Relief’s ability to respond quickly reflects more than a decade of investment in hurricane preparedness and health-system resilience across the Caribbean.

Each year, through its hurricane preparedness program, Direct Relief prepositions supplies across the region in large caches of medicines and emergency supplies, capable of supporting 3,000 patients for 30 days.

The organization supports more than 40 healthcare facilities, ministries of health, and nonprofit partners across the Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Jamaica with year-round shipments of requested medicines, medical supplies, and equipment.

Over the past five years, Direct Relief has delivered nearly $200 million in medical aid to support both emergency and chronic health needs in the Caribbean.

Through the Caribbean Resiliency Fund, Direct Relief has provided $12.6 million for infrastructure projects that strengthen power resilience, cold-chain storage, medical warehousing, and disaster response capacity in Jamaica and neighboring nations.

The post Sixteen Tons of Medical Aid Arrives Via Charter Flight for Hurricane Melissa-Devastated Jamaica appeared first on Direct Relief.

“It was the most powerful hurricane I’ve experienced,” said Shields, director of operations and Jamaican liaison for the JAHJAH Foundation. “It felt like a tornado for three or four hours… it was really terrible and very frightening,” she said.

Shields has lived through major storms before, including Hurricane Gilbert in 1988 and Beryl last year, but said nothing prepared her for this one. “The wind was howling and rattling. It felt like someone was shaking the building and windows, and doors. You just saw things blowing away, neighbors’ awnings lifting up, iron gates in the road, solar panels gone,” she said.

When she ventured out the next morning, the destruction was overwhelming. “There was debris everywhere; all you see now are blue roofs, made of tarpaulins. People were just walking around looking lost, shellshocked,” she said. “A lot of trauma that will stay with people for a long time.”  

Melissa made landfall near Montego Bay as a Category 5 storm, bringing sustained winds of around 185 miles per hour and torrential rain that flooded rivers and low-lying communities. At least 43 people are reported to have been killed by the storm in Jamaica, and more than 83 people were reported to have died during the storm in total. Jamaican officials said about 120,000 structures were damaged by Hurricane Melissa, impacting an estimated 90,000 families in the western part of the island.

At least four people were killed in the working-class neighborhoods of Catherine Hall and West Green, where Shields’ parents live. “My parents’ house flooded out,” she said. “A friend of ours was cut by flying metal and bled out.”

She believes the timing of the storm prevented a higher death toll. “If it had hit at night, more people would’ve died,” she said. “When the river overflowed, you couldn’t see what was happening outside. It would’ve been impossible to rescue anyone in the dark.”  

JAHJAH Mobilizes

The JAHJAH Foundation, short for Jamaicans Abroad Helping Jamaicans at Home, was founded in 2007 by Dr. Trevor Dixon. Based in the United States, it partners with medical professionals across Jamaica to strengthen hospitals and clinics, provide training and equipment, and improve emergency care. The group focuses on health access, education, and volunteer medical missions, often connecting Jamaica’s diaspora with communities in need on the island.  

As forecasts showed the storm approaching, the foundation began preparing a response. “Even before it arrived, we started to put together a coordination plan,” Shields said. “We’d done relief efforts for Beryl, so we knew we had to mobilize right away.”  

When power and internet briefly returned after the storm, she reached out to partners and shipping contacts. “We didn’t have to ask. They came on board right away,” she said. “Lots of people reached out to help, and it grew from there.”  

Among those who answered the call was Luis David Rodriguez, a program manager with Direct Relief, who traveled to Jamaica shortly after the storm to assess damage and help direct the organization’s support. “We took a charter jet from Miami direct to Kingston, with a Cuban pilot who had to get a permit to fly over Cuba,” Rodriguez said, explaining how they got there as quickly as possible.

Rodriguez said he first connected with the JAHJAH Foundation through one of Direct Relief’s preexisting partners for Caribbean disaster response. “They put me in touch with [Foundation CEO Founder] Dr. Trevor Dixon, who lives in New York, and with Karen,” he said. “Even with connectivity issues, we were able to stay in touch on WhatsApp.”  

Rodriguez described Montego Bay as a city still reeling from the combination of storm surge and inland flooding. “You see some destruction, but the main damage was caused by flooding,” Rodriguez said. “The main river that runs through the city overflowed when it met the storm surge, and that pushed water into the surrounding communities, causing a lot of damage.”  

“Black River looks like a tornado went through the whole area,” he added. “Karen took us to Catherine Hall, where she’s from. Those people lost everything in their houses unless they had a second floor. People took out everything, mattresses, furniture, all covered in mud.”  

Working with the JAHJAH Foundation, Rodriguez and his team, which included recording artist PJ Sin Suela, who is also a physician, began basic medical assessments in affected communities, including taking residents’ blood pressure. About one in four Jamaicans is estimated to have hypertension, according to the European Heart Journal. In a 2021 Oxford University-published study of 2,550 Jamaican adults, however, 41.4% of participants were found to be hypertensive

“Clinics have been destroyed, and many healthcare providers are taking care of their own families,” Rodriguez said. “They haven’t received the medical supplies they need.”  

Response Continues, Amid Trauma

Rodriguez said the western part of the island faces long-term challenges, but noted one advantage for the national recovery effort. “The affected areas are up there with Maria and Dorian in the Bahamas,” he said. “The one silver lining, if you can call it that, is that the eastern part of Jamaica looks like nothing happened. At least people have an area to go to for potable water, electricity, and support from Kingston.”

He praised the JAHJAH Foundation’s leadership and local presence. “Meeting Karen and her husband, they have a good grasp on what their community needs, and that’s very important in these kinds of emergencies,” Rodriguez said. “They’re bringing doctors to offer healthcare services. They know the community and exactly where to take us. JAHJAH Foundation is very well connected in the area and responsive, which helps make everything more efficient.”  

While the foundation focuses on getting food, medicine, and mobile medical teams into hard-hit communities, Shields said she’s also thinking about the mental toll of what comes next. “Since the hurricane, I hear the wind, and it bothers me,” she said. “I couldn’t sleep for more than an hour or two. When you wake up, everything runs through your mind.”  

She said the road to recovery will be long. “It’s not just food and shelter,” Shields said. “Everything has been taken away. Health is a big part of recovery, and we’ll keep doing our part to help Jamaica get there.”  

Direct Relief provided JAHJAH Foundation $50,000 to support Hurricane Melissa emergency response efforts.

The post Bringing Healthcare to the Community in Hard-Hit Montego Bay appeared first on Direct Relief.

At a community clinic in Montegrande, Haiti on Tuesday, midwives treated a new patient: a woman halfway through her pregnancy who’d fled the catastrophic damage of Hurricane Melissa for the country’s safer north.

She told midwives her house was likely destroyed. If it’s still standing, she explained, it’s been looted by now.

“She is resigned to starting her life entirely over,” said Jane Drichta, executive director of Midwives for Haiti, a nonprofit health organization whose clinicians care for women displaced by violence and disaster, living in what Drichta described as 23 different temporary camps.

Another woman whose home had been destroyed by Melissa, sheltering with a three-week-old infant, “seemed to be in shock,” Drichta said.

“Even though we didn’t get a direct hit like Jamaica” from Hurricane Melissa, Drichta said, “the lack of infrastructure and political instability” led to Haiti’s high death toll. Forty-three deaths have been reported in Haiti thus far.

Like every displaced woman Midwives for Haiti’s staff care for, the two evacuees had braved gang-controlled roads where violence is rampant, and the danger to their lives extraordinary, to seek shelter in northern Haiti. Even in the dozens of camps for Haiti’s displaced, who have fled gang violence – and now a Category 5 hurricane that caused widespread destruction in southern Haiti – there are so many gang members that Drichta won’t allow clinicians to care for patients in the camps. Instead, pregnant women in the camps are transported to a nearby community clinic by ambulance.

For thousands of Haiti’s internally displaced women, many of whom fled their homes in Mirebalais, Lascahobas, Sodo, and other areas overtaken by armed violence in recent months, circumstances are desperate. One patient with severe intellectual and physical disabilities was raped in the camps and became pregnant, but was unable to understand what that meant. Drichta reported on Tuesday morning that the woman had just undergone a scheduled C-section and was recovering at Midwives for Haiti’s high-risk maternal waiting home. Another pregnant woman, recently arrived, was doing her daughter’s hair when gangs suddenly invaded her town. She grabbed her two children and ran – barefoot – from her home.

After walking 15 miles, “she found her way to us, and is due any day,” Drichta said.

When the city of Mirebalais fell to gang control earlier in March of this year, an estimated 22,000 people became newly displaced. Drichta calls that a “conservative estimate.” Mirebalais was a devastating loss from a healthcare perspective: The city had a well-equipped hospital and a number of highly skilled providers. Now Drichta said the hospital is “shut and looted.”

While it’s impossible to tell how many have been displaced from their homes by Hurricane Melissa – there simply isn’t enough capacity in Haiti to keep close track – she notes that she’s seeing similar increases in the number of pregnant women urgently needing care. The average recent clinic has seen numbers of patients about 45% higher than usual – comparable to the numbers associated with displacement earlier this year. A Monday clinic that normally tops out at 50 pregnant women saw 120 patients in need of maternal health care.

“Our midwives didn’t get home until eight p.m., and one of my greatest rules is no one on the roads after dark” due to the danger of violence, Drichta said. Safety precautions, such as transporting pregnant women from the camps for care and restrictions of travel, are intended to keep clinicians and staff safe.

But midwives are often so concerned about patients – they know that the care they provide every day is lifesaving – that they can be careless of their own safety. “Nobody listens to me,” Drichta said, with a humorous note in her voice.

It’s far from just an abundance of caution. A senior midwife at Midwives for Haiti’s training school was kidnapped two years ago. “It was the worst three months of my life,” Drichta recalled. On a recent call with Direct Relief, she mentioned calmly that she’d passed two dead bodies on the road on her way to work that morning.

But Hurricane Melissa brings new dangers. Haitian women are fleeing the south, but Haitian women who have lived for years in the Dominican Republic have also been deported or been forced to flee the hurricane’s impacts. Many do not speak Haitian Creole. “It’s a complex disaster,” Drichta said.

Midwives are also reporting an increase in patients with heavy bleeding from placental abruption, which Drichta thinks may be due to the stress of Hurricane Melissa and the continuing violence. “We’ve had an extraordinarily stressful event and we’re seeing it more now,” she said.

Nutritional deficiencies and a lack of medical oxygen threaten many of her patients. Patients at camp clinics receive two daily meals, staff give packets of food to families, and Midwives for Haiti distributes therapeutic food for children with acute malnutrition. But Drichta said it’s common for babies to be born prematurely because of malnutrition and need acute care, which isn’t always available: “A lot of them are dying due to a lack of medical oxygen.”

Widespread flooding from Hurricane Melissa has made cholera and malaria all but inevitable, Drichta reported: “One hundred percent, we’re going to be seeing an uptick” in water- and vector-borne diseases.

An increase in sexual violence, too, is all but inevitable. Drichta feels confident she’ll see more cases like the woman who received a C-section Tuesday morning. Increases in the pregnancy complications that are already too common in Haiti – hypertension, eclampsia, and preeclampsia – are highly likely as well.

“It’s not just what happens in an emergency,” she said of Hurricane Melissa’s destruction. “It’s what happens after. These people are now high-risk pregnancies.”

Direct Relief supported Midwives for Haiti with 30 full midwife kits and 30 resupply kits – enough equipment, medicine, and supplies to support 3,000 safe births – and a $50,000 grant to secure additional medicines last year. The organization has allocated an additional shipment of midwife kits to support Midwives for Haiti’s ongoing work.

For the clinicians of Midwives for Haiti, earning these women’s trust will be the first step.

“The weather has betrayed them. The gangs have betrayed them,” Drichta said of her patients. “Luckily most of midwifery care is done with the heart and hands, and not just with medications…Our midwives are very good at this, at building these relationships.”

But she stressed that a disaster with Hurricane Melissa’s magnitude has consequences for everyone.

“With the influx of people we’re going to have even more [patients] and we’re going to need to do more camps,” Drichta explained. “My midwives will be overworked, and they will go out into the field” when they’re needed, whether it’s safe or not.

“No one is coming, so we have to do it ourselves,” she said.

The post In Haiti, Pregnant Women Flee Melissa’s Devastation through Gang-Controlled Roads appeared first on Direct Relief.

The emergency airlift is scheduled to depart Miami on Nov. 8 at 6:15 a.m. local time and is expected to arrive at Kingston’s Norman Manley International Airport at 7:50 a.m. The shipment contains medicines, personal protective equipment, chronic disease treatments, and mosquito repellent sent at the request of Jamaica’s Ministry of Health and Wellness.

The health effects of a hurricane often worsen in the weeks after landfall, when people miss routine care or run out of medication. In Jamaica, more than 200,000 people live with diabetes; running out of insulin can be fatal. Expectant mothers, people receiving chemotherapy, and people with heart and respiratory disease also face heightened risks when roads are impassable and clinics are inaccessible.

Direct Relief has pre-positioned medicines and emergency caches across the Caribbean and has been scaling up shipments and local support in coordination with regional partners, the Pan American Health Organization, or PAHO, and Jamaica’s National Health Fund. PAHO alerted Direct Relief on Thursday that it was preparing to ship one of Direct Relief’s hurricane preparedness packs staged in Panama with PAHO – each designed to sustain care for up to 3,000 patients for 30 days – along with Direct Relief field medic packs, to Jamaica to aid in response efforts. That shipment arrived in Jamaica yesterday.

The chartered Boeing 757 is carrying a gross payload of 32,514 pounds (about 16 tons) of medicines, PPE, first-aid, chronic disease management items, oral rehydration supplies, water purification tablets, and more packed to meet requests from Jamaica’s Ministry of Health and Wellness.

The airlift includes thousands of 30% DEET insect repellent towelettes and repellent spray bottles requested by the MOH. Public health officials in both Jamaica and the Dominican Republic fear an increase in mosquito populations and mosquito-borne illness due to the precipitation and standing water left by the hurricane.

The post Direct Relief Charters Boeing 757 To Deliver Emergency Medical Aid to Jamaica appeared first on Direct Relief.

Medical support arrived in Kingston, and the shipment contained a Direct Relief hurricane preparedness pack, a module containing critical medications, including antibiotics, wound care supplies, chronic disease management medication, protective gear, and more. The packs are staged in hurricane-prone areas across the Caribbean and U.S. Gulf Coast to support patient care if supply lines are damaged.

The pack contains enough medications to sustain care for up to 3,000 patients for 30 days. Monday’s shipment also included 10 Direct Relief field medic packs to Jamaica to aid in response efforts. The packs are specifically designed to equip first responders with medical essentials for triage care.

The shipment will be distributed by Jamaica’s Ministry of Health, which supports public health facilities in Jamaica, including hospitals and primary care clinics.

The shipment was dispatched from PAHO’s regional strategic stockpile in Panama and will be distributed to medical facilities serving patients. The infusion of support from Direct Relief is one in a series of air support shipments that have arrived or will continue to arrive in the country to support health services after Hurricane Melissa devastated portions of the island last month.

Direct Relief has worked with the Pan American Health Organization since 2018, to provide regional support to medical organizations in the Americas, including Caribbean countries, and will continue to assist with emergency response efforts in the region.

The post Critical Medications, Supplies Arrive in Jamaica with Coordination from Direct Relief, Pan American Health Organization appeared first on Direct Relief.

The historic Category Five hurricane made landfall in late October, devastating much of the western parishes in the country. Crisis Ready, a research-response initiative at Harvard and Direct Relief, gathered recent data that predicts that between 600,000 and 700,000 residents are without power after catastrophic winds of 175 miles per hour impacted the island.

In the hours and days that followed Melissa’s initial blow, Crisis Ready reported a “cascading infrastructure failure” that has left Jamaicans with extremely limited connectivity.

Cellular towers failed, and backup generators were depleted within the first two days. While some areas have power, prolonged power outages are anticipated.

Through the Microsoft AI for Good application, Direct Relief’s research and analysis team has estimated that about 76% of structures in the Black River area have been damaged following the storm. This data is difficult to confirm, as it includes cloud-covered areas. However, the application considers visible roof damage. Therefore, overall building damage is likely higher than reported.

An estimated 20 hospitals and 11 health centers are documented for the island. So far, four hospitals have reported major impacts from oxygen shortages, roof collapses, and child patients who needed airlifts to more secure facilities: Savana-la-Mar Hospital, Cornwall Regional Hospital, Black River Hospital, and Noel Homes Hospital.  

Due to limited to no connectivity, it is difficult to pinpoint population changes within the first week of the storm. However, several parishes along the western side of the island saw more than a 50% decline in population density within three days of the hurricane’s landfall.

Specifically, Saint James saw a 74% decline, followed by Westmoreland at 67%, and Saint Elizabeth, which saw a 65% decline.

Saint Elizabeth’s diverse population increases the risk of vulnerability. The parish has the highest percentage of residents age 60 and over at 14%.

According to Crisis Ready, residents age 60 and over are less likely to have evacuated and will be difficult to reach due to limited connectivity. The data hub suggests that nearly 14,000 elderly residents within Saint Elizabeth are without connectivity.

This group of residents is likely to have a difficult time managing chronic diseases and are more likely than other age groups to be physically isolated with little to no tools to contact other people.

Several parishes, including Saint Elizabeth, are home to many children under the age of five. Power outages in these parishes increase the risk of dehydration, waterborne diseases, and acute respiratory illnesses in young children as infrastructure conditions are compromised.

Many families are also at risk of separation as they seek shelter.

The post Using Technology to Measure Power Outages, Critical Infrastructure Damage After Hurricane Melissa appeared first on Direct Relief.

“It’s by far the most destruction we’ve seen here thus far,” said Rodriguez, a Direct Relief emergency response manager who’s currently evaluating medical needs in Jamaica. “The hospital is standing but it’s in pretty bad shape.”

Ivonne Rodriguez-Wiewall, a Direct Relief consultant who’s responded to numerous Caribbean emergencies and who traveled to Jamaica as part of the emergency team, described a shattered dialysis facility, also in Black River, that was managing to still serve patients in the tiny space that was still whole.

“It’s completely destroyed,” she said of the building. “It only has one place where the patients are, with a generator working only the equipment.”

The Pan American Health Organization, the regional WHO office and long-term Direct Relief partner, has documented a range of severe damage to hospitals, clinics, and other health infrastructure across Jamaica. In St. James, the roof of the children’s ward at Cornwall Hospital collapsed – one of five hospitals with severe damage. At least 15 facilities across the country experienced significant damage during the Category 5 storm, and 11 are remaining open without even a full day’s worth of medicines and other essential resources.

For Rodriguez-Wiewall and Rodriguez, both Puerto Ricans who have responded extensively after a number of hurricanes, including 2017’s Hurricane Maria, much of what they have seen is familiar: tattered, flooded communities, shocked faces, and many examples of everyday heroism.

“Walking through the streets of Montego Bay and Saint Elizabeth reminded me so much of what we lived through in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria,” Rodriguez-Wiewall said. “The destruction is immense, and many families have lost their homes, their medications, and the basic essentials they depend on.”

She described children helping their parents clear mud and debris. One older man told her he’d been unable to take his blood pressure medication for days. The local clinic was closed and the pharmacy had flooded.

However, Rodriguez-Wiewall noted, the same sense of community and concern for others is a feature of Jamaica’s response to the disaster: “Just like in Puerto Rico, there’s a powerful spirit of resilience here, people helping one another and determined to rebuild.”

Providers working in the small area of the dialysis facility still standing were caring for patients who had gone nearly a week since their last treatment. Dialysis must typically be completed three times a week for patients with serious kidney disease. But the generator was only sufficient to power the dialysis machines themselves.

“These are patients who have not received their dialysis since the hurricane passed,” Rodriguez-Wiewall reported.

Rodriguez described providers still working at Black River Hospital, with no power. “We gave them the medical backpack we had,” he said.

Direct Relief has a wide network of partnerships with Jamaica, including with the country’s Ministry of Health and Wellness. Rodriguez-Wiewall and Rodriguez were delighted to learn that Direct Relief’s medical aid was familiar in Black River – including the organization’s distinctive orange-and-black field medic packs.

“She recognized the backpacks,” Rodriguez recalled of one aid worker.

Many communities have been cut off both from aid and communications. Hurricane Melissa flooded and blocked roads, and downed power and internet, all over Jamaica.

But Rodriguez-Wiewall said public agencies had been quick and effective at clearing roads and establishing lines of communication.

“Today we crossed from Kingston [Jamaica’s capital] all the way to Black River,” a city in Jamaica’s southwest, she explained. While Kingston was relatively intact, Black River, about 12 miles away, had been devastated. “We had to go around if there was flooding or bypasses, but we were able to make it.”
Montego Bay, a city in the north of Jamaica, was similarly devastated, Rodriguez-Wiewall reported after conducting an evaluation.

Direct Relief has launched a multifaceted response to Hurricane Melissa. Prepositioned supplies have been deployed in Jamaica, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. A large-scale cache of emergency supplies, which Direct Relief positioned in the Pan American Health Organization’s facilities in Panama, has been deployed regionally.

Rodriguez-Wiewall and Rodriguez plan to meet a new Direct Relief shipment in Kingston, scheduled to arrive this week. The shipment contains 100 additional field medic packs, designed for first responders caring for patients in emergent circumstances, and a large variety of hygiene items for displaced people. These items are intended to prevent diseases caused by lack of sanitation, such as cholera and scabies, both serious risks in the aftermath of disasters.

A far more extensive shipment, containing water purification tablets, oral rehydration solutions, diabetes medicines and supplies, IV items, insect repellent, reentry kits for people returning to damaged, homes, prenatal vitamins, and mental health medications, among other medical aid, is en route.

A $50,000 emergency grant will be awarded to the JAHJAH Foundation, a nonprofit working on the ground in impacted Jamaican communities to meet health, water, and other essential needs. Direct Relief staff visited JAHJAH Foundation staff to evaluate medical needs and see their operations at work.

Direct Relief staff are conferring with local health systems and providers to determine what medical aid and funding allocations will be most effective at preventing the serious health impacts caused by hurricanes.

Rodriguez-Wiewall cautioned that needs would be extensive and likely long-lasting. While government agencies and regional groups have launched fast, coordinated responses, the scale and severity of Hurricane Melissa meant that many people have gone too long without food, clean water, or emergency care. Jamaican partners have reported that bodies are continuing to be uncovered.

“There are a lot of people walking by with needs for food and water,” Rodriguez-Wiewall said, describing conversations she’d had in affected Jamaican communities. “They need everything. They’ve lost everything.”

The post On the Ground in Jamaica, Direct Relief Emergency Team Reports Devastation, Heroism after Melissa appeared first on Direct Relief.

But storms like Melissa aren’t deadliest in the short days when they’re active. Instead, it’s in the weeks and sometimes years afterward – when affected communities struggle with a blocked road to the nearest hospital. A contaminated water source, or a local clinic with a missing roof and ruined equipment. Or perhaps a communal refrigerator that held insulin but is now damaged and its contents unsafe.

In coordination with Jamaica’s Ministry of Health and Wellness, Direct Relief’s warehouse and logistics staff are currently packing an urgent shipment of requested medicines and supplies, valued at roughly $1 million wholesale. This shipment supplements aid Direct Relief had already positioned in the region before hurricane season began and medical aid currently on the way – and its purpose is to head off what’s commonly called “the second disaster.”

Research is increasingly proving that this second disaster – a period of months or years after a natural disaster severely damages a community – is deadly. Sixty-four Puerto Ricans were directly killed by Hurricane Maria in 2017. But a groundbreaking 2018 study conducted in the months after found a number of excess deaths above 4,000 – about 70 times the cited death toll. About one-third of those deaths were caused by a lack of access to healthcare, as blocked roads and closed clinics kept people from providers and medicine.

A study in Nature last year showed that hurricane-related deaths can be 300 times the original death toll, as people go without medicine, lose crops and livelihoods, and struggle to find housing amid severely damaged infrastructure.

The Second Disaster

1. The Environment

Tropical storms like hurricanes unleash a host of threats into affected communities.

When local water sources are contaminated, water-borne illnesses like cholera become a severe and potentially fatal risk. Digestive ailments like norovirus can spread through contaminated water and food, especially in crowded conditions like shelters. Because both uncontaminated food and drinkable water are in short supply in Jamaica right now, preventing these illnesses and preparing to treat their symptoms will be high priorities.

Pools of standing water quickly become breeding grounds for mosquitoes, especially in warm climates. In the Caribbean, mosquitoes cause vector-borne diseases like dengue, zika, and chikungunya. Because dengue has been on the rise in recent years, it’s a particular concern right now.

Communities affected by hurricanes have reported a growing need for epinephrine autoinjectors, as people working to clear damage and return to their homes encounter beehives and other potentially deadly allergens. And physical traumas such as injuries occur both during storms and as people work to clear debris and reach help.

2. Lost Medicine and Food

People with non-communicable diseases like diabetes, hypertension, respiratory ailments like COPD, cancer, and kidney disease are at increased risk during and after hurricanes. Medicines are often damaged by the disaster or people are forced to flee without them. The lifesaving treatments used to manage these conditions generally demand consistent, reliable access to care and monitoring.

In addition, contaminated food sources or lost crops can quickly lead to nutritional deficits, with pregnant women and other vulnerable people at higher risk. In Jamaica, Hurricane Melissa has destroyed both food and crops. For people with diabetes, managing the disease with little food or with whatever is available is likewise much more hazardous.

3. Mental Illness

Communities that experience hurricanes experience increased levels of post-traumatic stress, depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues that can continue for more than a decade. Long periods of uncertainty – such as when recovering families struggle to access housing or find employment – can create or prolong psychological distress.

A single hurricane can cause widespread impacts, but repeated events compound the effects. Research has demonstrated that survivors of multiple traumatic events are left with worsening mental strain and greater vulnerability to future mental health illness.

4. Damaged Infrastructure

Damaged clinics and hospitals – Jamaica has reported at least five significantly damaged hospitals – can cut off access to care for months. This affects both people needing emergent care, such as for diabetes or a mental health condition, and people who need surgery or specialty care for cancer, kidney disease, and other complex illnesses.

When Hurricane Dorian battered whole islands in the Bahamas in 2019, both primary care clinics and specialty care hospitals were affected. The Covid-19 pandemic, which began the following year, drastically complicated access to care in the Caribbean nation.

But even if clinics and hospitals are open and able to care for patients, blocked roads and landslides can make accessing that care impossible. Puerto Rico, like many other areas of the Caribbean that are vulnerable to hurricanes, has increased its mobile and rural healthcare efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.

5. Poverty, Displacement, and Struggle

Some of the most lasting consequences of hurricanes are hard to quantify – but they can be deadly. Excess deaths in the years after a hurricane aren’t always easily attributable to it. But when people lose their homes or their livelihoods; when they are displaced from their communities for long periods; when the community as a whole struggles to rebuild or restore services; when contamination and pollution continue to haunt communities, then the number of excess deaths will increase.

First Response

The medical aid being prepared for transport to Jamaica includes a wide variety of requested medicines and supplies. Some of these – including epinephrine auto-injectors, water purification tablets, oral rehydration solutions, IV supplies, antibiotics, insect repellent, personal protective equipment, field medic packs for emergency responders working on the ground, and reentry kits for people returning to damaged homes – are designed to prevent emergent conditions common after a disaster.

Many other items, including prenatal vitamins and medications and supplies to manage diabetes, will help prevent spiraling health emergencies caused by a lack of treatment. People with non-communicable diseases and pregnant women, among other medically vulnerable groups, are at particularly high risk in the aftermath of a hurricane.

The Jamaican Ministry of Health and Wellness has also requested a range of mental health medications for people affected by Hurricane Melissa, as post-traumatic stress and other mental health conditions pose significant risks to disaster-affected communities. These medications are included in the shipment.

A separate shipment of pediatric insulin and materials for children with Type 1 diabetes is also being prepared by Direct Relief for shipment to Jamaica and awaiting dispatch to the Jamaica Diabetes Association.

Recovery in countries affected by Melissa will likely take years. Direct Relief has strong, active partnerships throughout the Caribbean, and in Jamaica, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and the Bahamas in particular. The organization has worked for years with regional and local partners to increase resilience and disaster preparedness.

Direct Relief will continue to collaborate with partners, monitor the changing situation, and respond as needed.

The post Second Disaster: After Hurricane Melissa Kills Dozens, The Caribbean Faces These Five Threats to Health appeared first on Direct Relief.

“Over the past two days, Melissa brought heavy rain, flooding and landslides” to this part of Haiti, said Linda Thélémaque, Hope for Haiti’s chief program officer, in a video update. “The soil is saturated, roads have been cut off, and many families are recovering from water damage and loss of crops.”

Hope for Haiti, which serves more than 1 million people across southern Haiti, is using the medical supplies from Direct Relief to stock outpatient and mobile clinics working to reach people cut off from care.

Six large medical caches are staged for the regional response: four in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and two at the U.N. Humanitarian Response Depot in Panama for regional deployment. Each pack contains more than 200 items and is designed to sustain care for up to 3,000 patients for 30 days.

The caches are “filled with critical medicine and supplies that help us respond to hurricane related health needs. These include items to treat injuries, respiratory infections, skin conditions, diarrhea, and other illnesses that often follow heavy flooding,” Thélémaque explained. The supplies will allow Hope for Haiti clinicians “to respond quickly in the days and weeks ahead.”

In the Dominican Republic, Fundación Solidaria del Divino Niño Jesús received two pallets of insect repellent from Direct Relief on Oct. 21. The country’s Ministry of Health and Wellness will distribute the repellent in high-risk, flood-affected areas to help limit dengue and other mosquito-borne diseases.

Direct Relief supplies currently staged in Panama — including medications and field medic packs — will be routed to affected areas by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the regional office of the World Health Organization.

An emergency response specialist at PAHO alerted Direct Relief on Thursday that the organization was preparing to ship one of the Hurricane Preparedness Packs, along with 10 field medic packs, to Jamaica to aid in response efforts.

PAHO had staged an additional HPP in Haiti last month in preparation for emergencies.

When a large-scale disaster strikes, the immediate priority is getting aid into devastated areas as quickly as possible. In the aftermath of a catastrophe like Hurricane Melissa, however, secondary threats can be deadlier than the initial storm: loss of chronic medications such as insulin, contaminated water, standing water that promotes mosquito-borne disease, damaged health facilities and blocked roads.

Direct Relief is rushing medical aid to affected communities – allocating $250,000 in initial emergency funding, shipping 100 field medic packs and 250 hygiene kits to Jamaica’s Ministry of Health and Wellness, and making its entire inventory of medicines available to hurricane-impacted areas in Jamaica and other countries.

The organization’s response built on years of regional investments intended to strengthen resilience and speed emergency response. Recent support includes $3 million for resilient infrastructure, power access and two mobile health clinics in Jamaica; another $3 million for resilient power, cold-chain, medical oxygen and mobile healthcare services across the eastern Caribbean; $1 million to bolster the Dominican Republic’s cold-chain and medical warehousing capacity; and $1 million to support emergency operating costs for nine Haitian health facilities affected by ongoing conflict.

“Direct Relief’s preparedness programs are active all year round, all working towards the goal of strengthening the response capacity of our local healthcare partners,” said Dan Hovey, Direct Relief’s vice president of emergency response

Melissa remains a threat, and affected communities are still taking stock of the damage and evaluating which health interventions are most needed. Jamaica’s Ministry of Health and Wellness has flagged mental-health impacts as a priority, said Genevieve Bitter, Direct Relief’s vice president of program operations. People — especially in the southwestern areas that bore the brunt of Melissa’s landfall — have lost homes, livelihoods and schools. Many are without running water, power or sufficient food and are unable to reach loved ones.

“People have been through a trauma,” Bitter said. Direct Relief staff are collaborating with MoHW officials to determine how best to meet mental-health and other hurricane-related needs.

But the strategic stockpiles placed throughout the region are already the first step in mitigating the “second disaster” after a major catastrophe. The loss of insulin and other lifesaving medications, standing water and unsanitary conditions, blocked roads, and the lack of access to medical care that often follow a disaster can be far deadlier than the initial event.

“We’re able to stay present, keep our doors open and mobile clinics running, and bring care where it’s needed most” because the medicines were already there, Thélémaque said.

The post Hurricane Melissa Left Devastation Behind. Medical Aid was Already Ready and Waiting. appeared first on Direct Relief.

He feared the worst. “Here in Africa, when you have a stroke, it’s over for you. You are never standing again,” he said. “My family, my little family, depends on me.”

Until recently, his fate would have been grim. But doctors at Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Brazzaville in the Republic of Congo had just received their first donation from Direct Relief and Boehringer Ingelheim of alteplase, an effective medicine that can dissolve blood clots blocking blood flow to the brain (the main cause of most strokes), reducing the risk of long-term impairment.

In a video taken two months after his stroke, Mayenga moves his left arm and leg freely, lifts a jug with more than 20 lbs. of water up and down, and carries it in his left hand as he walks past his children. “Really, it saved my life, and my family too,” he said. “It was something magnificent.”

“Direct Relief’s donation of alteplase has revolutionized stroke management in the Congo,” the Brazzaville hospital reported in a survey. “We are so grateful.” The first four patients to be treated were all evaluated post-treatment as either completely symptom-free or remaining functionally independent despite having minimal symptoms, the hospital reported.

In one of the more complex programs in its 77-year history, Direct Relief partnered with Boehringer Ingelheim to donate more than 37,000 vials of alteplase to 38 healthcare partners in 30 countries, including Bangladesh, Cambodia, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Ghana, India, Jordan, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, Zambia and others.

Among non-communicable disorders, stroke is the second leading cause of death and the third leading cause of death and disability combined. The overwhelming majority of the global stroke burden – 87% of deaths and 89% of disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) lost – occurs in low-income and low-middle-income countries, the World Stroke Organization (WSO) says in its Global Stroke Fact Sheet 2025. Between 1990 and 2021, stroke incidence rose by 70%, stroke deaths by 44%, and DALYs lost by 32%.

Direct Relief hadn’t previously donated stroke medicine, so it had to build a mostly new network of partners capable of providing the treatment. Administering alteplase requires a high level of medical capabilities. The medicine must be administered within 4.5 hours of a stroke, according to the approved label. The hospital must have brain imaging (MRI or CT scan) equipment to confirm and evaluate the nature of the stroke. In many countries where Direct Relief sought to bring the medicine, only top academic or referral hospitals met the clinical requirements.

Direct Relief worked with the WSO to identify many of these facilities, establishing new relationships across Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean with top hospitals, and with national ministries of health that managed or helped arrange distribution in 10 nations. Among 13 institutions that responded to an initial survey of recipients, six said Direct Relief’s donation was the first time they had received a supply of the medicine.

“With initiatives like this and our Rare Diseases Program, Direct Relief is building the systems needed to deliver advanced medicines to people who otherwise would have no access to them,” said Direct Relief CEO Amy Weaver. “Each of these efforts moves us closer to a world where geography no longer determines access to care — where the best medical innovations reach everyone who can benefit from them.”

The program began in 2024 when Boehringer Ingelheim informed Direct Relief that, due to changing regulatory circumstances in the countries where it offers the drug, it had tens of thousands of vials of the medicine available for donation, and wanted to know whether Direct Relief was able to meet the complex requirements to distribute it.

“While this donation presented an immense opportunity to expand our support of stroke care globally, we also recognized the complexity and scope of the work ahead,” said Neesha Rao, Associate Director, Access to More Health, Boehringer. “We are deeply grateful for the expertise and unwavering commitment that Direct Relief brought to meet these challenges. Every story we receive about how this endeavor has made a difference—for patients, their families, and healthcare providers—is a cause for celebration.”

Direct Relief doesn’t simply take donated medicines and ship them out, hoping that recipients will find a use for them. It only donates medicines to partners who have specifically requested them and have a proven ability to manage and administer the drugs properly. Recipients must comply with standards for tracking the storage, distribution, and disposal of each batch of medicine. Direct Relief only ships medicine with enough remaining shelf-life to comply with standards in recipient countries.

Building Capacity

Another key participant in the effort was Angel’s Initiative, a Boehringer Ingelheim nonprofit initiative dedicated to improving stroke patients’ chances of survival and living a disability-free life. Angel’s Initiative creates “stroke-ready hospitals,” helping hospitals adopt and drill staff in proven stroke treatment protocols, emphasizing rapid and standardized response. The organization helped Direct Relief identify hospitals capable of administering the medicine and provided online stroke training courses to recipients.

“We’ve demonstrated that donating this type of medicine is completely possible, and on the way we’ve built relationships with the WSO and Angel’s Initiative, we’ve broadened our own partner network quite significantly, and we’re offering stroke care training to every partner that receives this donation,” said Direct Relief’s Eleni Brauner, who arranged the donation from Boehringer Ingelheim and led the global distribution effort. “This is a long-term healthcare systems strengthening exercise catalyzed by a donation.”

For Direct Relief’s Regional Director for Africa, Jeffrey Samuel, the relationships with ministries of health and top academic hospitals that he helped establish over the past year for the alteplase donation created a pipeline for the increasing volume of highly specialized medicine donations Direct Relief receives.

Ministries of health offer geographic reach that individual hospitals often lack, as well as the ability to align with evolving regulatory systems that safeguard the quality of medicines entering their countries. “As health systems strengthen across Africa, it’s vital that our partnerships evolve with them,” Samuel said. “By working more closely with governments, we can help ensure that patients everywhere — regardless of where they live — have access to the advanced treatments they need.”

The post How Direct Relief and Boehringer Ingelheim Brought Advanced Stroke Treatment to 30 Low-Income Countries Around the Globe appeared first on Direct Relief.

Although the wind speeds have weakened somewhat, Melissa made landfall with life-threatening winds of 185 miles per hour. It remains a devastating event, menacing Jamaicans with as much as 40 inches of rainfall and storm surge of up to 13 feet in some areas. People have already been killed in Haiti, Jamaica, and the Dominican Republic, and at least four Jamaican hospitals have sustained significant damage – a reason for serious concern, as damage to healthcare infrastructure can have long-lasting impacts in post-disaster settings.

This cataclysmic storm is likely to cause devastation from flooding and landslides across Jamaica, before continuing across eastern Cuba late on Tuesday and hitting the southeastern Bahamas on Wednesday.

The Immediate Response

In anticipation of the storm’s projected impact across Jamaica and the Caribbean, Direct Relief is committing an initial $250,000 in emergency funding and has made available its entire inventory of medicines and medical supplies, including antibiotics, gastrointestinal medications, insulin, personal protective equipment, and vaccines to support hurricane-impacted communities in Jamaica and other affected countries.

The organization also dispatched on Monday the most recent tranche of medical aid, including 100 field medic packs and 250 hygiene kits, to Jamaica’s Ministry of Health and Wellness.

Direct Relief’s emergency response personnel in the region are on standby and ready to deploy to affected areas as needed to coordinate the delivery of emergency medical aid as soon as conditions allow.

Direct Relief is coordinating closely with partners in the Caribbean, including Jamaica’s Ministry of Health and Wellness, the Dominican Republic’s Office of Civil Defense, the Pan American Health Organization, or PAHO, and local nonprofit partners in the storm’s projected path. These local, national, and regional partnerships are critical to identifying priority health needs and ensuring the rapid delivery of life-saving medical assistance in the wake of the storm.

Amy Weaver, Direct Relief’s CEO, has spoken directly with Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, MP, Jamaica’s Minister of Health and Wellness, to discuss immediate priorities for post-disaster healthcare intervention.

Before the Storm

With more than two decades of experience responding to hurricanes and other extreme weather events worldwide, and an extensive partner network in Hurricane Melissa’s forecast cone, Direct Relief is ideally positioned to rapidly mobilize additional medical aid as requested by partners in affected areas.

Even before hurricane season began this year, Direct Relief prepositioned 13 hurricane preparedness packs throughout the Caribbean, including four with healthcare providers in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and two available at the UN Humanitarian Response Depot in Panama for regional deployment.

Each pack contains more than 200 essential items to sustain care for as many as 3,000 patients for 30 days, including medicine for chronic conditions like diabetes and hypertension, inhalers, antibiotics, antifungal treatments, wound care supplies, and other supplies.

The organization also prepositioned field medic packs and hygiene kits with partners in hurricane-prone countries throughout the region, including more than 100 packs and 300 hygiene kits delivered earlier this month to the Dominican Republic’s civil defense agency. Additional emergency response resources are ready for deployment from Direct Relief’s headquarters in Santa Barbara, California.

Bolstering Caribbean Resilience

As part of its broader preparedness strategy across the Caribbean, Direct Relief has provided $12.6 million to regional projects through its Caribbean Resiliency Fund. This fund aims to strengthen health systems across the region to withstand and quickly recover from the growing impacts of climate-driven disasters. Support has included:

• $3 million to build a large solar and battery backup system for a central pharmaceutical warehouse in Jamaica; ensure power resilience at several health clinics and community centers across eastern and rural parts of Jamaica’s Saint Andrew’s Parish and across the southern coast and greater Kingston area; and procure two mobile health clinics for Jamaica’s Ministry of Health and Wellness., among other activities.
• $3 million for health infrastructure projects, including resilient power, cold-chain, medical oxygen, and mobile healthcare services, in Eastern Caribbean nations.
• $1 million to bolster disaster preparedness and response capacities in the Dominican Republic, including via enhanced cold chain and medical warehousing infrastructure.
• $1 million to support emergency operating costs for nine health facilities affected by the ongoing civil unrest in Haiti.

Additionally, Direct Relief provided more than $75 million in financial support and medical aid to strengthen Puerto Rico’s health system in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, which caused catastrophic damage, a prolonged power blackout, and widespread health and humanitarian needs in September 2017. Among other activities, Direct Relief funding enabled the provision of resilient energy for much of the island’s critical healthcare infrastructure.

The Pan American Health Organization serves as a distribution partner to public health facilities during emergencies and facilitates staging of Direct Relief emergency medical commodities at PAHO’s regional stockpile in Panama. Since 2018, Direct Relief and PAHO have coordinated the delivery of more than $408 million in medicines and medical supplies to disaster-affected communities across 18 countries.

A wide-ranging partnership with the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States enables Direct Relief to work with a network of health ministries and emergency management agencies across the OECS’s 12 member states. The partnership also supports the prepositioning of emergency supplies at OECS’s warehouse in Saint Lucia and other preparedness efforts across the region.

These long-term investments and strategic positioning programs are part of Direct Relief’s broader commitment to supporting communities before, during, and after disasters strike.

In total, Direct Relief provides support to dozens of partners in 14 countries across the Caribbean, bolstering everything from resilient infrastructure to maternal healthcare.

The post Direct Relief Scales Up Caribbean Support as Hurricane Melissa Slams Jamaica appeared first on Direct Relief.

Weather experts say the Category 5 hurricane will be the worst recorded tropical cyclone to hit the Caribbean country. Deaths have already been reported in Dominican Republic and Haiti. Melissa’s wind speeds increased drastically over the weekend, and the storm was bearing down on Jamaica on Tuesday morning. Evacuation orders are in effect, as the extreme wind, rain, and storm surge of up to 13 feet in some areas will cause severe floods and destruction across the country.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued warnings of life-threatening conditions.

“This is an extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation! Take cover now!” NOAA said in a printed statement on Tuesday morning. “Failure to adequately shelter may result in serious injury, and loss of life.”

NOAA also advised residents who were unable to evacuate not to leave their homes, as winds and floods will become stronger after the eye of the storm has passed.

Andrew Schroeder, Vice President Research and Analysis at Direct Relief, said that the country’s eastern mountain region is at a high risk for life-threatening landslides from the intense rainfall. Residents in this area will be the most vulnerable as blocked roadways, power outages and interrupted broadband and cellular service are expected.

Google Flood Hub is predicting that the country will experience its highest river levels to date. Schroeder said that even though data from the search engine only dates back 45 years, water levels along the coast are already higher than previous storms.

“There is no comparison in Google’s data,” he said. “These levels are peaking right now.”

The last catastrophic storm to hit the country was Hurricane Gilbert, a Category 4 hurricane in 1988 that killed at least 40 people in Jamaica. The disastrous storm inspired updated infrastructure; however, Schroeder says even those updates may not be enough compared to the devastation Melissa will bring. For comparison, Katrina’s wind speeds were 125 miles per hour at its peak. Melissa’s are already much higher.

“At the wind speeds they’re now forecasting of 185 miles per hour, that (infrastructure updates) may not matter very much,” he said.

The post Extreme Flooding, Landslides Expected as Hurricane Melissa Bears Down on Jamaica appeared first on Direct Relief.

In addition to the $2 billion in aid, Direct Relief has committed more than $60 million in financial support to local healthcare providers and organizations providing care in Ukraine and other countries, including Poland, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic, that have opened their doors to Ukrainian refugees.

From the first airlifts of trauma kits in February 2022 to the installation of battery-backup systems in hospitals during winter blackouts, Direct Relief has worked in continuous collaboration with Ukraine’s Ministry of Health, regional authorities, and local healthcare providers.

“Surpassing the $2 billion mark is not just a measure of what has been delivered. It’s a reflection of the trust placed in Direct Relief by donors and the resolve of Ukraine’s health providers, who have held their system together under extraordinary strain,” said Amy Weaver, CEO of Direct Relief. “This milestone underscores what can be achieved when private philanthropy and mission-driven partners act decisively together. As the war continues, our focus remains on ensuring consistent access to care, from medicines and rehabilitation to resilient power, mental health support, and essential medical services for displaced and vulnerable populations.”

In partnership with the Ministry of Health, Direct Relief has aligned its support with Ukraine’s national recovery priorities — supporting health facilities serving internally displaced people, rehabilitating critical infrastructure, expanding access to advanced therapies for chronic and rare diseases, and funding organizations providing psychosocial and trauma recovery programs. This sustained engagement reflects a transition from crisis response to long-term support, ensuring that aid continues to deliver impact well beyond the immediate emergency.

“Direct Relief has been consistently supporting Ukraine’s healthcare system throughout the war. This assistance is coordinated with the Ministry of Health, ensuring that resources are directed where they are needed most. We highly value this partnership, which saves Ukrainian lives and strengthens the resilience of healthcare services. In the most challenging moments — when hospitals operate under shelling, when the power goes out but doctors continue treating patients — the support of Direct Relief is especially tangible,” said Viktor Liashko, Ukraine’s Minister of Health.

“It stands as an example of effective international solidarity, embodied in concrete results: modern equipment, medicines, backup power systems, and the development of rehabilitation and mental health services. We are deeply grateful to the Direct Relief team and to everyone helping to reinforce Ukraine’s healthcare system, ensuring it remains effective, strong, and resilient.”

Essential Medicines and Supplies

At the center of Direct Relief’s work is the provision of critical medicines and supplies. To date, the organization has delivered more than $2,046,000,000 in wholesale value, including more than 449 million defined daily doses of essential medicines used for trauma care, chronic diseases such as diabetes and cancer, and maternal and child health. These shipments are directed by real-time requests from the Ministry of Health and local providers to ensure every delivery meets urgent and specific clinical needs.

Rehabilitation & Prosthetics: Restoring Lives, Rebuilding Futures

As Ukraine’s health system continues to absorb the human cost of war, thousands of civilians and service members have lost limbs and now face long paths to recovery. Direct Relief’s support for rehabilitation and prosthetics has focused on strengthening national institutions and independent organizations working to restore mobility and rebuild lives.

Among them is the Unbroken National Rehabilitation Center in Lviv, now a national hub for advanced rehabilitative care. With support from Direct Relief and others, Unbroken has transformed a seven-story building into a fully equipped center where patients living with limb loss and other injuries relearn daily routines.

Direct Relief also supports the Protez Foundation, a U.S.- and Ukraine-based nonprofit that manufactures and fits custom prosthetics for civilians and soldiers injured in the conflict. The foundation has expanded its workshops and training programs with help from Direct Relief, enabling hundreds of amputees to receive modern prosthetic limbs and specialized therapy, free of charge.

A growing number of those receiving care are also joining the workforce to help others. At U+ System in Kyiv, a Direct Relief–supported organization, veterans who once depended on prosthetics now produce and fit them for new patients — part of an emerging trend of amputees becoming prosthetists. “When a technician is an amputee himself, it’s easier to share this experience and help patients realize how they can recover after such a trauma,” said surgeon Oleksandra Mostepan.

Protez has launched a similar initiative, employing veterans and equipping workstations for people with disabilities. “We already have two veterans working — Danyl and Mykola — and we’re preparing more,” said Yury Aroshidze, the foundation’s CEO.

Together, these programs are redefining rehabilitation in Ukraine, shifting it from a story only defined by loss to one that includes leadership, skill-building, and community resilience.

Expanding Access to Health Services Across Ukraine

As millions of people have been displaced internally, and many communities continue to experience intense conditions, Direct Relief supports medical outreach programs that expand access to both primary and specialized healthcare for residents and internally displaced persons throughout Ukraine. These programs strengthen local health capacity by equipping healthcare facilities, mobile teams, and regional networks to deliver consistent, high-quality care to people who have lost access to regular medical services.

Through these efforts, Direct Relief helps health providers respond to the evolving needs of their communities. This includes managing chronic conditions and prenatal care, as well as providing essential consultations, medicines, and diagnostics in areas hosting displaced populations.

By reinforcing healthcare delivery networks nationwide, Direct Relief ensures that people affected by conflict and displacement can access safe, reliable care close to where they live. This work sustains the continuity of Ukraine’s health system through unprecedented challenges.

Power Resilience for Health Facilities: Keeping the Lights on in Crisis

Electric grid attacks have become a recurrent tactic in Ukraine, severing power to homes and health facilities alike. To address power outages at critical facilities, Direct Relief supported the purchase and installation of battery-backup systems under its Power for Health initiative, donating more than 2,000 battery storage units to hospitals and health facilities across the country.

This critical infrastructure powers surgical suites, neonatal incubators, oxygen concentrators, and electronic health records systems during blackouts. At Kharkiv Regional Hospital alone, the battery units help the facility operate autonomously, absorbing grid outages and enabling continuous care.

Ukraine’s Minister of Health, Viktor Liashko, noted that each attack on the energy grid directly threatens patients’ lives, saying, “Every day, our medical facilities are subjected to targeted attacks … Ensuring uninterrupted medical care under any conditions … is our main task in the realities of war.”

In one harrowing case, doctors performed a critical surgery during a blackout by switching to battery power mid-procedure, an operation that would have otherwise been interrupted. Such incidents underscore the life-saving role of backup power in wartime.

By investing in resilient energy systems, Direct Relief helps preserve the backbone of Ukraine’s health infrastructure — allowing doctors to save lives even when the grid goes dark.

Healing the Invisible Wounds of War: Mental Health and Psychosocial Support

Beyond physical devastation, the war has inflicted deep psychological wounds on the people of Ukraine. Daily threats of violence, displacement, and loss have left millions facing anxiety, depression, and trauma. In response, Direct Relief has made mental health and psychosocial support a central element of its ongoing humanitarian work, supporting organizations that are building national psychosocial support networks and expanding the availability of trained counselors and clinical psychologists.

In addition, Direct Relief is supporting an effort to train mental health professionals and civil defense first responders to assist people in the immediate aftermath of attacks, flooding, and other crises. The model is designed to help communities stabilize quickly and recover.

Sustained Commitment

Since February 2022, more than 2,300 medical facilities in Ukraine have been damaged, including 305 fully destroyed, according to the Ministry of Health. The World Bank and European Union estimate that the country’s health sector faces $19.4 billion in recovery needs — a scale of loss that underscores both the urgency and the importance of sustained private humanitarian engagement.

Direct Relief accepts no government funding, relying solely on private donations and in-kind contributions to maintain the speed and flexibility required in crisis response. The organization will continue to support the country’s health system — from medicine deliveries and rehabilitation programs to expanded healthcare access, resilient power, and mental health — to ensure care remains available into the future.

The post Direct Relief Surpasses $2 Billion in Aid to Ukraine appeared first on Direct Relief.

The Category 5 storm is churning through the Caribbean, with Jamaica and Cuba bracing for impact. Melissa’s ongoing threats include more than two feet of rain, dangerous storm surge, and wind speeds of more than 150 miles per hour. The storm has already inundated areas of Haiti and the Dominican Republic with deadly flooding and landslides. 

Emergency Shipments En Route, Building on Long-Term Support

Direct Relief has extensive and long-lived partnerships in the Caribbean, with operational activity occurring on an ongoing basis, making the organization strongly positioned to scale up during disasters.

Over the past five years, Direct Relief has shipped more than 75 tons of medical aid to Jamaica, and recent shipments to the country included insulin and specialty respiratory medications.

Additional medical support is currently being prepared for shipment, including field medic packs to equip first responders with medical essentials and personal care products for displaced people.

Direct Relief has also invested in the country’s resilient power infrastructure, with $3 million in cash support going towards emergency preparedness projects to provide solar backup power for medical warehouses, generators to equip health centers on the island, and a primary healthcare mobile unit.

Medicines Currently Staged Throughout the Caribbean

Because hurricanes can cause extensive infrastructure damage to ports and roadways, leaving communities cut off for extended periods of time, Direct Relief operates an extensive hurricane preparedness program. The organization pre-positions caches of medicines and supplies in storm-prone communities, each containing enough medical aid to treat 3,000 people for one month, with the goal of equipping health providers on the ground until regional supply chains can be re-established.

There are currently six Direct Relief hurricane preparedness packs staged regionally for use in Hurricane Melissa-impacted areas: two in Haiti, two in the Dominican Republic, and two in Panama. Additional medical support staged in Panama with the Pan American Health Organization (the World Health Organization’s regional office in the Americas) is also ready for deployment if needed by regional health facilities.

Past Responses Build Trust, Strengthen Hurricane Melissa Efforts

Direct Relief has extensive experience responding to hurricanes in the region, including Hurricane Maria, which experienced widespread and long-lasting power outages long after the storm ended. The organization funneled more than $75 million in financial support and medical aid to strengthen Puerto Rico’s health system, and also provided resilient energy for much of the island’s critical healthcare infrastructure.  

The organization also maintains key relationships with regional partners, including the Office of Eastern Caribbean States, which represents 12 islands in the eastern Caribbean. Direct Relief is also coordinating with the Pan American Health Organization, which has coordinated shipments of medical aid into Cuba and other countries in the region.

Direct Relief is ready to respond as Melissa’s impacts, and the region’s medical needs after the storm, become clearer.

The post Direct Relief Commits $250,000, Opens Medical Inventory in Response to Hurricane Melissa’s Impacts in the Caribbean appeared first on Direct Relief.

Hurricane Melissa strengthened into a Category Three storm on Saturday, and the slow-moving system has already inundated the region with rainfall ahead of its projected path tracking over or near Jamaica on Monday.

The storm could reach Category Five strength by that time, and forecasters said some areas could receive up to 30 inches of rain, with the U.S. National Hurricane Center warning that the storm could have “increasingly dire” consequences for communities in its path.

Three people have been killed in Haiti from the storm’s impacts, and 15 people have been injured. Cuba is also expected to receive up to 18 inches of rain in the eastern areas of the island. Southern coastlines across Jamaica, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Cuba are expected to be impacted by the storm surge.

Direct Relief Response

Direct Relief has regional staff based in the Caribbean responding to Hurricane Melissa, and the organization has been in close communication with health organizations in Jamaica, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic about health needs.

In the past 30 days alone, Direct Relief has delivered over $3.1 million in medical aid to the potentially impacted areas — ensuring that critical resources are already on the ground and ready for immediate use. The organization is continuing to fill requests as they become known.

For needs in Jamaica, Direct Relief has prepared a shipment of 100 field medic packs, filled with first aid items for triage care, at the request of Jamaica’s National Health Fund. Also ready for shipment are 250 requested personal care kits that include hygiene items for displaced people. Direct Relief has shared its medical inventory list with Jamaica’s Ministry of Health and is ready to deploy medical aid as needed.

Direct Relief has also coordinated with the Pan American Health Organization, or PAHO, to stage additional medicines in the region to backstop local supplies of medication. Two hurricane preparedness packs, with enough medications to treat 3,000 people for one month, are currently staged in Panama and ready to deploy to Jamaica as needed. Additional field medic packs are also ready to deploy to support first responders.

Direct Relief has worked to bolster Jamaica’s resilient power system, and after Hurricane Beryl’s impact in 2024, the organization donated 24 generators that have been installed at health centers across the southern coast and greater Kingston area, ensuring continuous healthcare services if power shuts down.

In Haiti, Direct Relief has pre-positioned two hurricane preparedness packs, one with Hope For Haiti in Les Cayes, a city in the southwestern peninsula of Haiti, and a second with PAHO, which has an emergency response team that works directly with Haiti’s Ministry of Health to supporting local public hospitals.

In the Dominican Republic, Direct Relief has prepositioned two hurricane preparedness packs, and the country’s national emergency response agency, Defensa Civil, recently received 108 emergency medical backpacks and 300 emergency family hygiene kits.

Direct Relief has a long history of responding to storms in the Caribbean, including Hurricanes Matthew, Dorian, Maria, Fiona, and Beryl, and has supported medical facilities throughout the region during these disasters as well as on an ongoing basis.

Direct Relief will continue to respond to medical needs throughout the week as Hurricane Melissa’s impacts become known.

The post With “Increasingly Dire” Forecast, Hurricane Melissa Intensifies, Putting the Caribbean on Alert appeared first on Direct Relief.

Medications and supplies shipped this week included treatments for diabetes, pain and inflammation, and bacterial infections.

Tropical Storm Melissa Gains Strength, Bringing Damage to the Caribbean

Tropical Storm Melissa continues to pose a major threat across the Caribbean, bringing heavy rainfall, flash flooding, and landslides to Haiti, Jamaica, and the Dominican Republic. Three people have been killed as a result of the storm’s impacts in Haiti, and between 10–20 inches of rain are expected in southwestern Haiti and eastern Jamaica through Monday, with 6–12 inches expected across southern Haiti and the southern Dominican Republic.

Direct Relief has shipped more than $3 million in medical support recently to Jamaica, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. The organization is also preparing a shipment of 100 field medic packs for the National Health Fund Jamaica, as well as 250 personal care kits with hygiene items for displaced families.

The organization will continue to monitor medical needs as the storm’s impacts become known.

Direct Relief Expands Oxygen Access in The Gambia

Direct Relief’s Regional Director for Africa, Jeffrey Samuel, joined partners in The Gambia this month for the inauguration of a new medical oxygen system at Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital in Banjul.

The system, part of the larger AIRS project, provides reliable medical-grade oxygen and training for biomedical technicians, helping strengthen care for newborns and critically ill patients.

Government leaders, health officials, and the First Lady of the Gambia recognized Direct Relief’s ongoing support, including recent medical shipments that improved oxygen access nationwide.

Health Organizations from Across U.S. Share Learnings

Direct Relief hosted a two-day learning summit at its headquarters this week for 34 leaders from 18 health centers and free clinics. The gathering marked the completion of a two-year program, in partnership with Pfizer, that delivered more than 127,000 vaccinations and reached over 700,000 people in underserved communities.

Through the Innovation Awards in Community Health: Addressing Infectious Disease in Underserved Communities, Direct Relief and Pfizer invested $4.52 million in local programs that maintained trust between providers and the communities they serve.

Summit participants shared lessons learned, discussed strategies for sustaining community-based vaccination efforts, and explored opportunities for continued collaboration.

Operational Snapshot

UNITED STATES

Direct Relief delivered 550 shipments containing 1.9 million doses of medication this past week to organizations, including the following:

AROUND THE WORLD

Globally, Direct Relief shipped over 4.3 million defined daily doses of medication, totaling 34,925 lbs., to countries including the following:

YEAR-TO-DATE

Since January 1, 2025, Direct Relief has delivered 24.1K shipments to 2,588 partner organizations in 54 U.S. states and territories and 86 countries. These shipments contained 272.4 million defined daily doses of medication, valued at $1.8 billion wholesale, totaling 3.5 million lbs.

IN THE NEWS

Direct Relief: Lebanon & Honduras — Humanitarian News Feed 

The OECS and Direct Relief Strengthen Vector Control and Surveillance in Antigua and Barbuda – iNews Cayman

Doctors Without Walls Updates Donors on Street Medicine Work — The Independent

ICM’s Midwives Data Hub a Finalist for Prestigious Anthem Award — International Confederation of Midwives

The Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital (EFSTH) in Banjul has commissioned its first medical oxygen production plant, an $8 million facility supported by Direct Relief and other partners. The plant is expected to ensure a steady supply of lifesaving oxygen and strengthen the hospital’s capacity to manage critical cases. | QTV Gambia | Facebook 

The post Responding to Tropical Storm Melissa, Oxygen Needs in West Africa, and More appeared first on Direct Relief.

Recognizing the heightened threat, Direct Relief is closely monitoring conditions and coordinating with partners across the region to ensure emergency medical aid can be deployed quickly and effectively.

“With Melissa expected to intensify — and with its future track uncertain — preparedness is key for ensuring the health and safety of these communities,” said Luis David Rodríguez, Caribbean Emergency Response Manager at Direct Relief. “Because essential supplies have been pre-positioned — including over $3 million in medical aid delivered within the last month and significant investment in backup power in Jamaica over the past year — health facilities across the region will be able to continue treating patients, even if flooding and power outages disrupt normal supply lines.”

Direct Relief is also processing incoming emergency requests, including a shipment of 100 field medic packs for the National Health Fund Jamaica, as well as 250 personal care kits with hygiene items for displaced families. Additional emergency response resources, including medicines and supplies, are available for rapid deployment from Direct Relief’s headquarters in Santa Barbara as conditions evolve.

In the past 30 days alone, Direct Relief has delivered over $3.1 million in medical aid to the potentially impacted areas — positioning critical resources on the ground and ready for immediate use following the storm:

• Jamaica: $132,102 in medical aid to the National Health Fund
• Haiti: $243,518 in medicines and medical supplies (over 2,000 pounds) to the Pan American Health Organization in Haiti
• Dominican Republic: $2.8 million in medicines, medical supplies, field medic packs for first responders, and personal care items for displaced people (over 10,000 pounds) to five partner organizations — Centro Médico Central Romana, Patronato Benéfico Oriental, Fundación Solidaria del Divino Niño Jesús, Hospital Infantil Robert Reid Cabral, and Defensa Civil, the Dominican Republic’s National Emergency Management Agency

These recent shipments build on Direct Relief’s long-term support in the Caribbean, where the organization has delivered more than $1.8 billion worth of medical aid across 460 health-care partners in the region.

About the Hurricane Preparedness Program

Direct Relief’s Hurricane Preparedness Program — the largest charitable hurricane preparedness initiative of its kind globally — equips local healthcare providers in hurricane-prone regions with pre-positioned caches of essential resources so care can begin within hours of impact. There are four of these Hurricane preparedness packs, or HPPs, pre-positioned within the storm’s current projected path, each designed to support the care of 3,000 people for one month.

Direct Relief is coordinating with the Jamaica Ministry of Health, Hope for Haiti, Defensa Civil, Patronato Benéfico Oriental, and the Pan American Health Organization, or PAHO, which monitors both Haiti and Cuba.

Preparedness efforts across the Caribbean include:

• Haiti: Two HPPs are pre-positioned in the country with PAHO and Hope for Haiti
• Jamaica: In 2024, Direct Relief provided a $3 million grant to the National Health Fund to install a solar-energy system at the country’s primary pharmaceutical distribution facility, strengthening health-system resilience. Following Hurricane Beryl, Direct Relief donated 24 generators, all now installed at health facilities across the southern coast and greater Kingston area to ensure continuity of care during power outages.
• Dominican Republic: Two HPPs are pre-positioned — one with Patronato Benéfico Oriental and another with Fundación Solidaria del Divino Niño Jesús, both long-term partners organizations of Direct Relief. In addition, Defensa Civil has received 108 emergency medical backpacks and 300 personal care kits filled with hygiene items to support displaced families during disasters.

Direct Relief has consistently supported Caribbean health systems through hurricanes and other disasters, including Hurricanes Matthew, Dorian, Maria, Fiona, and Beryl. With pre-positioned supplies, resilient energy and backup power infrastructure enhancements, and trusted regional logistics networks, the organization stands ready to respond to future requests for aid as they become known.

The post Direct Relief Mobilizes as Tropical Storm Melissa Threatens to Become Major Hurricane appeared first on Direct Relief.

During their outreach, physicians checked for common symptoms of stomach pains, as well as taught patients how to use and clean the water filters. It’s the kind of whole-person care that Friedman said she wishes she could bring back to the United States.

Friedman is the newest global health fellow through the Global Health Fellowship program with Ventura County Medical Center in Ventura, California. For two and a half months, she’ll work at APQ before traveling to other sites for a total of six months abroad, then back to Ventura. She’s following in the footsteps of Dr. Zack Self, also a former VCMC resident, who co-founded APQ with his wife in 2015.

Self is originally from Tennessee, but visited Guatemala over 20 years ago while completing his residency at VCMC. Self said that at the time he witnessed local injustices and the effects on people’s health. The physician and his wife, a nurse who is now the clinic’s executive director, agreed to return to her hometown of Santo Tomas La Union to start a medical clinic.

Nearly two decades later, the staff at APQ offer vital services and whole-person medical care to rural and indigenous residents in Guatemala.

Outpatient services are most common at APQ, but the clinic offers a myriad of services, including a pharmacy, ultrasound, inpatient, and critical care. Patients come from across the region, some traveling hours for health services. Dr. Self said that patients who are part of indigenous communities are often unable to access healthcare services in their own language, making it difficult to find quality, compassionate, and culturally appropriate care.

To address that need, he’s hired bilingual and trilingual staff who can speak with and think about patient needs and expectations throughout the healthcare process. Most patients arriving at the clinic speak K’iche’, the Mayan indigenous language spoken in the western part of Guatemala. With the help of family, friends, doctors from the Ventura residency program, and a nonprofit in Alabama, Self and his team have created a two-story clinic that meets the health needs of Guatemala’s indigenous communities.

“We (want) excellent healthcare to extend and improve their quality of life,” Self said. “We hope to be the example of what’s possible.”

Friedman visited Guatemala twice before applying for the fellowship program. She said it was “eye-opening” to see how the indigenous people lived and the basic water services that they were seeking. The family medicine physician said that she met Dr. Self the year prior in Ventura and became interested in the program to help her better serve patients in the predominantly Spanish-speaking population of Ventura and Oxnard, California.

“So it feels in some ways, full-circle for me to come back now as a doctor, to be able to give back to the community and feel like I’m continuing to learn and grow,” she said.

While Guatemala has expansive freshwater streams and rivers, many rural residents lack access to clean, potable water. The result can be consistent abdominal pain, diarrhea, malnutrition, and acute waterborne illnesses. APQ staff have distributed over 2,000 water filters to make drinking water available and improve health conditions.

Drs. Self and Friedman said that because not all residents have access to potable water, waterborne illnesses are somewhat commonplace. Residents are regularly prescribed antibiotics and anti-parasitic medications to overcome illness. However, the water filter is a preventative measure to improve patients’ overall quality of life and reduce trips to the clinic for care.

“Obviously, boiling is not enough to get all the parasites and bacteria out of the water,” said Dr. Friedman. “Patients will come in with these symptoms very regularly, and I think for a lot of them it’s almost normal.”

Without potable water, residents have turned to alternative beverages, like sugary drinks and bubbly beverages, that predispose residents to chronic conditions.  

Most patients are experiencing uncontrolled diabetes, hypertension, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD. Dr. Self said that traditionally, women cook meals over a fire, which has contributed to COPD.

The clinic’s unique ability to provide extensive services is valued, but the doctors said that having staff who understand the daily needs of their patients is critical, too.

“They’re taking a lot of time to get to us, and we don’t (always) have all the resources at our clinic. If they need surgery, we refer them into the city, but there’s this understanding that they have already traveled hours to get to us,” said Friedman. “Do they have the time and money to even get to another city and back?”

Friedman said that the ability to consider a patient’s needs and fit their care with their quality of life is the “perfect world of medicine.”

“It’s just very humbling to be able to work here,” she said. “It’s such a privilege to be able to come here and be a part of their community.”

Direct Relief has provided Ajkun Pa Le Qatinimit with more than $10.8 million in medical aid since 2013. The organization has also received a pharmaceutical-grade refrigerator to store temperature-sensitive medications, as well as financial support to expand medical oxygen for patients.

The post Ventura Physicians Provide Whole-Person Care for Guatemala’s Indigenous Communities appeared first on Direct Relief.

The brigade arrived in Álamo, Veracruz on Friday, October 17, just days after heavy rainfall pummeled this area of Mexico.

There, the team – six doctors, four nurses, and a psychologist, among others – found people with nowhere to live after their houses had been flooded up to the second story. Patients with diabetes, hypertension, asthma, and HIV who’d lost their medication. Open wounds on the hands and feet of people working to clean up communities damaged by some of the heaviest rainfall Mexico has seen in years.

“The situation is not good,” said Gabriel Sánchez, the team leader and a coordinator of medical operations at Medical Impact, an organization that deploys brigades of healthcare providers to communities in Mexico and around the world. “Many families were left homeless, their belongings were lost.”

At least 76 people were killed last week when unexpected, heavy rainstorms caused flash flooding and landslides in the Mexican states of Hidalgo, Querétaro, Puebla, San Luis Potosí, and Veracruz. Hurricane Priscilla, which passed over much of this area earlier in October, brought heavy rainfall, but much less damage.

That’s part of the problem, said Dr. Giorgio Franyuti, Medical Impact’s executive director. “Usually…we are very adaptive toward activating protocols against hurricanes,” he said of Mexico’s extensive public and nonprofit emergency response systems. “We had this with Hurricane John, Otis, and Erick [in June of] this year.”

But rains that aren’t part of tropical storm systems are rarely so destructive, Dr. Franyuti said.

“The devastation is massive,” he said. “It will take a very long time for health systems to achieve a reconstruction of their infrastructure.” He said the heavily damaged areas cover more ground than the whole of Central America.

Medical Impact deploys brigades all over the world – Dr. Franyuti has provided medical care in Guatemala, Gaza, and Colombia, among other places – both in emergencies and to temporarily boost healthcare in overwhelmed or under-resourced settings. When Dr. Franyuti spoke to Direct Relief on Wednesday, he turned his phone camera on to show brigade members packing pharmaceutical supplies and field medic packs the organization had donated.

Direct Relief funded Medical Impact’s flooding response brigades with a $25,000 grant. The organization also supplied essential medicines and medical supplies, as well as 10 field medic packs earlier this year, in advance of hurricane season, to enable swift in-the-field deployments like this one. (The organization also provided medical support to Mexico’s Secretariat of National Defense, or SEDENA, and the Guerrero Ministry of Health’s Urgent Care Unit, which mobilized responders to the area.)

The grant “enables us to jump-start the response so we can start right away,” Dr. Franyuti said. Staff members were packing portable mattresses and potable water along with the medicines and supplies. “We do not know where we’re going to stay, but we have to deploy anyway. It is so time-sensitive, and so critical. We usually resolve [logistical issues like shelter] on the spot.”

Dr. Franyuti was already distressed by the high death toll caused by the flooding and landslides. But he warned it was only the beginning.

“Let me tell you about the bigger monster: the secondary disaster,” he said. “These people do not have drainage. They do not have refrigeration. They do not have drinkable water.”

The loss of medications, and of refrigeration to store medicines like insulin, was severely dangerous. Parasites and water-borne diseases would be a growing risk in coming days. Then, he said, mosquito larvae would hatch in standing water in the next couple of weeks, likely causing an increase in dengue cases. All of this threatens health facilities in affected areas, which “do not have the necessary productivity or capacity” to treat thousands of patients in acute need at once.

Of the 1,079 patients Sánchez’s team treated over the next three days, he estimated that 90% needed replacements for chronic disease and other lifesaving medications that had been lost in the floods. All needed preventative deworming treatments.

For those three days, the brigade split into two, Sánchez explained. One team remained at a stationary clinic, and the other went door to door to treat patients who were injured, older adults, or unable to leave their homes.

One of them, he recalled, was a patient in her 70s. A neighbor alerted the mobile team that the woman was alone at home because her two adult children had gone in search of supplies. When asked if she needed medical attention, she showed providers a wound on her foot – she could not travel over the debris-filled streets – and asked for diabetes medicines to replace the ones the floodwaters had swept away.’

When the team treated her, “she cried in gratitude and wanted to give us food,” Sánchez recalled in Spanish.

That kind of reaction is common, Dr. Franyuti said, and it’s often what motivates volunteer providers to undertake this work, despite the dangers and the months of deployment.

The work “is sad, but it is also very hopeful,” he said. “You get hugged every day. People come and give you sunflower seeds, they give you mangoes. It’s a cultural experience so rich and so life-changing.”

Dr. Franyuti estimated that this disaster would require at least six months of repeated deployment. Teams are rotated every week to give responders time to rest – “You do not want to have people exposed to a disaster for a long time…it does cause post-traumatic stress,” he said – and the brigades continually collect and analyze data about community-level healthcare needs to enable tailored, efficient responses.

A brigade may respond to a volcano eruption, only to find that nearby health needs are relatively few, but people dozens of miles away are experiencing severe respiratory impacts as particles are carried on the wind. A flooding event may raise concerns about contaminated water and interrupted supply chains…but a severe outbreak of dengue may end up presenting the biggest risk. Pregnant women or children may be more affected than the team expected.

That’s why data analysis is so key to Medical Impact’s brigade deployments: “There’s a gold mine behind the data,” Dr. Franyuti said. “You do not achieve anything with only one intervention; you have to continually study” the situation.

Touching base with Direct Relief while back in Mexico City late Tuesday afternoon, Sánchez had already handed an early data set over to his colleagues. While they were analyzing it, the brigade was off to Huauchinango, in Puebla, another state badly affected by flooding.

The data doesn’t just serve Medical Impact’s response. Dr. Franyuti said one of the organization’s highest priorities is ensuring that local health systems are ready to take over after a medical brigade leaves the field: “Handing the steering wheel back to the public sector” is always the goal, no matter where in the world a team is working. Providing accurate, on-the-ground data about healthcare needs, and how they’ve changed over time, ensures that a public health system can step back in as efficiently as possible.

“Every disaster is unique,” Dr. Franyuti explained.

The post After Deadly Mexico Floods, a Medical Brigade Provides Care appeared first on Direct Relief.

On August 31, a magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan, killing more than 2,200 people, destroying whole villages, and displacing tens of thousands. A few days later, Dr. Yousafi arrived with a team of medical workers in Anderlechak, a village in the Sawkai District of hard-hit Kunar Province, and saw piles of material in front of the small local mosque. A resident explained that villagers had had to hurriedly find shrouds for approximately 85 people killed by the quake.

“I felt fear” seeing the piles of shrouds,” he explained in English. “This was a very dazzling story and memory for me.”

Dr. Yousafi is a physician with the Afghanistan Islamic Medical Association, a nonprofit group. Since September 5, AIMA workers have been providing medical care to Afghan people in earthquake-affected villages: treating injuries and infections, caring for pregnant and lactating women, and providing medicine to patients with chronic diseases.

Speaking to Direct Relief both in English and with the aid of a translator, he described scenes of urgent need and harrowing loss.

AIMA’s group of providers split up: One team quickly established a stationary clinic, which Dr. Yousafi heads, in the Osmane displacement camp in Khas Kunar District, while a mobile team travels to hard-to-reach villages in the mountainous area using an off-roading vehicle.

AIMA’s earthquake response teams were equipped by a 17-pallet emergency shipment from Direct Relief. The shipment contained about 8,300 pounds of antibiotics, prenatal vitamins, oral rehydration salts, water purification tablets, prenatal vitamins, inhalers, medications, insulin, and other supplies for chronic disease management – about $6 million in wholesale value.

The supplies were received and distributed by the Afghanistan AMOR Health Organization (AAHO), a long-term Direct Relief partner and one of the few NGOs in the country that can receive international humanitarian support. Over the past 12 months, Direct Relief has provided $460,000 in material medical aid to Afshar Hospital, which AAHO operates in Kabul.

Earthquakes happen frequently in Afghanistan. Even at relatively moderate magnitudes, they are a serious threat to the country’s rural provinces, where buildings are often informally constructed from easily available materials and highly vulnerable to collapse. Because this earthquake occurred when people were sleeping at home, the death toll was particularly high, and women and children were especially affected, witnesses have reported.

Mountainous terrain and damaged roads can cut vulnerable communities off from rescue and aid, as this quake did. And even without the added impact of natural disasters, the Afghan people experience high levels of poverty, hunger, and malnutrition. The United Nations estimates that more than 23 million individuals – over half the country’s population – urgently need humanitarian assistance.

Adding to the humanitarian need, over 2.2 million Afghans have returned to the country from Pakistan and Iran this year – often involuntarily. Thousands of returnees from Pakistan currently live in earthquake-devastated areas.

Asked about reports that many women have been unable to access medical care after the earthquake, Dr. Yousafi said it was “a true story.” To ensure that women in displacement camps and affected villages could receive primary and maternal healthcare, AIMA’s medical team included several female members: two physicians, a midwife, and a nurse.

Pregnant and lactating women in these areas had low levels of iron and other nutritional deficiencies, Dr. Yousafi reported, making prenatal vitamins and other nutritional support an urgent need.

He estimated that the two teams had treated more than 1,250 people thus far, in an October 13 conversation.

Many of the people treate by AIMA’s team have experienced horrors. One young boy, trapped under collapsed wood for about 18 hours, had a fractured leg and other injuries. After being airlifted to a hospital for treatment, he was returned to the Osmane displacement camp.

AIMA staff changed his dressings every day, Dr. Yousafi recalled: “Now he is completely healthy.”

A man treated for a fractured femur had lost his wife, four sons, and two daughters during the earthquake. Their deaths happened right in front of him, he told Dr. Yousafi.

“This story was very important for me,” the physician recalled. Many of his patients had devastating injuries and serious health issues, and many had lost numerous family members.

“They have very great difficulty living,” he said.

Arifa Dashte contributed translation services and interviewing to this story.

The post In Afghanistan’s Earthquake-Shattered Villages, A Doctor Treats Wounds and Infections, Hears Stories of Loss appeared first on Direct Relief.

At least 70 people are dead, 72 people are reported missing, and almost 100,000 homes are estimated to be destroyed, according to Reuters.

Search and rescue teams continue to look for residents as storm winds and rains continue to hit central Mexico and the southwestern states of the United States.

A succession of storms has made 2025 one of the rainiest years on record in Mexico, and this weekend’s rain caused flash flooding and rising waters in the states of Veracruz, Hidalgo, Puebla, San Luis Potosi, and Queretaro. Residents are experiencing inaccessible and blocked roads, and the current storm compounded impacts from Hurricane Priscilla’s heavy rains in early October.

Direct Relief’s Response

Direct Relief has been responding to storm impacts in Mexico and has dispatched requested medical aid to support needs in flood-impacted areas. Field medic packs, designed to equip first responders in disaster settings, were sent to organizations in flood-impacted areas. Direct Relief also shipped emergency medicines and supplies, including antibiotics, chronic disease management medications, and wound care supplies, to support the health services post-flood.

Medical aid went to Mexico’s Secretariat of National Defense, or SEDENA, the Guerrero Ministry of Health’s Urgent Care Unit mobilizing to Veracruz, and nonprofit Medical IMPACT, which is deploying medical teams to assess health needs and establish a supply line to underserved communities lacking access to care. Direct Relief is also providing $25,000 in emergency operating funds to support Medical IMPACT’s deployment and immediate flood response efforts.

Storm impacts like flooding can bring about a host of health concerns, including healthcare interruptions caused by evacuations, waterborne illnesses when water systems are damaged, and the possibility of mosquito-borne diseases, including dengue.

Direct Relief staff in Mexico are in communication with multiple organizations and agencies, including the Secretariat of National Defense, about ongoing medical needs. Direct Relief will continue to respond as needs become known.

The post Direct Relief Responding to Mexico Floods with Medical Support, $25,000 in Emergency Funds appeared first on Direct Relief.

Based in California since 1948, Direct Relief has a long track record of responding to natural disasters across the state — from wildfires and debris flows to earthquakes and atmospheric river storms. Ahead of this week’s storm, the organization is coordinating with local and state partners, monitoring conditions in high-risk areas, and preparing emergency medical supplies for rapid deployment.

Health Implications of Flooding and Displacement

Severe storms often trigger cascading health effects that continue long after the immediate impact. Extended power outages can prevent people from safely storing temperature-sensitive medications, such as insulin, and disrupt access to electricity-powered medical equipment. Flooding can force residents to evacuate their homes, disrupting access to health care and increasing the risk of injury, stress, and chronic disease complications. By mobilizing early with local health centers, free clinics, and other community organizations, Direct Relief aims to help ensure that people who rely on ongoing medical care do not face additional risk.

“When extreme weather strikes, the most serious health consequences often come from disruptions to daily care — not just the storm itself,” said Staci Richard, California Emergency Response Manager for Direct Relief. “Our priority is to make sure essential medications and supplies are positioned in the community where they can be accessed quickly and safely.”

Supporting California’s Search and Rescue Teams

Direct Relief also continues to strengthen California’s ability to respond to emergencies through its Search and Rescue Fund, established in 2023 following a series of catastrophic winter storms across the state. The fund was created to bolster the operational capacity of the state’s 7,500 volunteer search and rescue, or SAR, members, who often cover the cost of their own gear, training, and equipment while serving as the first line of response during floods, debris flows, and other emergencies.

Since its inception, the Search and Rescue Fund has provided more than $1.1 million in direct support to volunteer teams statewide. That includes more than $600,000 in 2023 for Santa Barbara County SAR and other local teams responding to flooding, and over $500,000 in 2024 through a statewide grant round supporting 19 volunteer SAR teams across 38 counties in California.

“Search and rescue volunteers play an essential role in protecting people during floods, debris flows, and other disasters,” said Richard. “By supporting these dedicated teams, Direct Relief helps ensure Californians can be reached when they’re in greatest need.”

Strengthening Energy Resilience Across California

In addition to mobilizing essential medicines and supplies, Direct Relief continues to invest in long-term energy resilience to help communities withstand future disasters and power disruptions. Direct Relief has equipped 21 healthcare sites across California with resilient backup power systems, ensuring that critical services, refrigeration for medicines, and communications remain operational during grid outages.

These systems support:

• 14 Federally Qualified Health Center organizations operating 16 sites

• Two Planned Parenthood health centers (Santa Barbara and Ventura)
• One free and charitable clinic (Free Clinic of Simi Valley)
• Two additional community sites equipped with standalone battery systems (Bearskin Meadow Camp and Laguna Beach Community Clinic)

From Mendocino County to Los Angeles, these resilient power systems provide a lifeline during extended outages and disasters, enabling trusted community healthcare providers to remain open and serve people when access to care is most critical.

As the typhoon- and tropical storm-fueled storm approaches, Direct Relief remains in close contact with local and state emergency managers and community partners statewide and stands ready to provide aid wherever it is needed most.

The post Direct Relief Mobilizes Ahead of Typhoon-Fueled Storm Expected to Impact California appeared first on Direct Relief.

There’s a scheduled helicopter flight once a week to the mainland for people who need transport, and supplies flown into the island are usually hand-carried wherever they’re needed. The families who live there feel a strong connection to place, community, and tradition, said Megan Mackiernan, a physician assistant and chief quality officer at Norton Sound Health Corporation, a tribally owned, nonprofit healthcare organization. 

“Families really value their kids having that experience of growing up on the island,” MacKiernan explained. “We take that ‘It takes a village’ thing very strongly.” 

There’s also a clinic located in the village of Diomede – one of 15 village clinics operated by the Norton Sound Health Corporation, which serves rural communities throughout the Norton Sound and Bering Strait region.

That clinic’s story has been key to the organization’s close partnership with Direct Relief, according to Mackiernan. 

In September 2022, when the Little Diomede clinic was newly built, a helicopter dropped off a large shipping container filled with equipment and supplies Norton Sound had purchased for its facility: machines for monitoring vital signs, exam tables, a pharmacy dispensing unit. When a typhoon barreled across Alaska’s western coastline, the container tumbled around the island’s coast, damaging and destroying the contents.  

Norton Sound had received a $50,000 Direct Relief emergency grant a couple of years earlier, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. When the clinic’s supplies were destroyed, Mackiernan recalled, a colleague suggested, “Why don’t you reach out to those Direct Relief people?” 

Direct Relief provided a second emergency grant, this time of $160,000, to cover the cost of getting replacements for the destroyed supplies shipped to the village.“We were able to have all that stuff and get that clinic functional,” Mackiernan said. 

Today, the two organizations work closely together. Direct Relief supports Norton Sound’s care with shipments of sterile water, liquid IV and oral rehydration supplies, epinephrine, naloxone, and over-the-counter medicines and supplies – over $494,000 in total material aid.  

In an area where running water, medicines, and even food are expensive – supplies are generally brought in by plane or barge – Mackiernan says the ongoing support is invaluable: “Norton Sound really loves Direct Relief.” 

Today, Norton Sound operates not only 15 village clinics but a regional critical-access hospital, located in the town of Nome (population about 3,600), and a nursing home for Alaska Native elders. About 85% of the organization’s patients are Inupiat, Central Yup’ik, and Siberian Yupik, and about two-thirds of them live below the poverty line. Mackiernan said other patients include recent immigrants – such as teachers who come from Korea or the Philippines to teach in local schools. 

“We get very experienced teachers,” she said. Many of them work in small villages and even live at the schools where they teach because of the area’s acute housing shortage.  

Norton Sound providers deliver babies, treat injuries, clean teeth, test hearing, offer physical therapy, and care for chronic diseases. And caring for the area’s patient population, which has particular medical needs, requires a nuanced understanding of traditional diets, culture, and daily life. 

The population has a high percentage of patients with CPT1A, a gene that, in its Arctic variation, affects fatty acid metabolism. While medical attempts to manage the gene often lead to obesity, Mackiernan said, “the traditional native diet is really just the best thing.” 

The organization’s patient population also has high rates of TB, cancer, and serious mental health conditions such as major depressive disorder and schizophrenia. Norton Sound provides full-time inpatient and outpatient psychiatric services to meet mental health needs. 

Five communities in the region don’t have piped running water, and a single shower is expensive at the local washeterias – a place where residents can access showers and laundry, Mackiernan explained. Norton Sound works with village communities to make washeteria facilities more accessible. Patients can receive free passes for coming to a wellness visit or screening for colon cancer. 

“Our goal is to make this a wellness center,” she said. “Cleanliness is such an important part of health, but when a shower costs $10, when are you going to have a shower?”  

Awareness and time are key to healthcare in the area. Mackiernan explained that a typical visit lasts at least an hour, and developing trust and rapport is key to working in partnership with patients, who frequently rely on subsistence hunting and gathering to feed their families and can be cautious about communicating with newcomers.  

“Life here does not operate at the same pace it does elsewhere,” Mackiernan said. “You come in and you sit down. You don’t touch the patient, you just sit down…Having that first conversation with your ears open, that’s going to be where you learn important things about the patient.” 

Louisa Albright, a physician assistant at the Unalakleet clinic, said she’s learned to look to her patients for nonverbal communication, like facial expressions, movement in the shoulders or arms, or just a growing quietness to indicate how the conversation is going. Her husband and children are Alaska Natives, she explained, and she first learned the importance of nonverbal communication in her husband’s family.  

“It’s important no matter where you are, to be aware of people’s expectations and their backgrounds, and what they’re trying to accomplish,” she said.  

Unusually for a provider, Albright does immunizations, blood draws, and home visits. She cares, on a daily basis, both for chronic conditions and for patients whose needs are so acute she often needs to contemplate an emergency transfer.  

“You have to know sick versus not sick: Do I need to transfer this patient emergently?” she explained. “We really do everything from birth to death. We take complete care of the patients.” 

Helping patients manage chronic conditions means understanding their values and cultures. If a provider knows that eggs are still out of stock at the grocery store – they’d been out for five days when Albright spoke to Direct Relief – they’ll be a better resource for patients working to manage nutrition and finances. Foraging for berries, a traditional practice, can provide essential vitamins, exercise, and mental health benefits together. Working with a tribal healer in Albright’s village has helped Albright understand her patients’ perspectives. 

“People here tend to not want to be on medication…I try to be really sensitive to that,” she said. “If people can eat a traditional diet, I always encourage that.” 

Norton Sound also works to fill gaps in food availability – for example, providing fresh produce to patients either at cost, or for free after a patient has a blood sugar or cholesterol check.  

Mackiernan said new providers, often from schools in higher-resource settings with large populations, need guidance to work well with Norton Sound’s patients. “You need to think about what life looks like for that family, you need to offer something doable,” she said. Pushing people to purchase supplements or produce that are expensive or unavailable won’t help – it will just dishearten them. 

Vast, sweeping changes in the region’s history have deeply affected patients and communities. “Some communities are less than 150 years from contact” with Western culture, Mackiernan noted. Disease outbreaks, such as the 1918 influenza pandemic or the COVID-19 pandemic, have taken a huge toll. Many still experience the devastating legacy of forced enrollment and assimilation in the United States’ residential schools for Native children. Melting permafrost destabilizes life in traditional communities and jeopardizes hunting – a serious loss in communities where a moose can provide months’ worth of food for a family. 

Norton Sound actively partners with regional tribes to enhance community health by employing local professionals such as community health aides, dental health aide therapists, and behavioral health aides. These workers, well known and trusted in local villages, encourage patients to visit the clinic and take advantage of available services. Tribal representation is invaluable in guiding the direction of healthcare in the region, ensuring that it effectively meets the needs of the community.

For Albright, living and working in a primarily Alaska Native community of about 600, her familiarity in the community where she works bolsters the care she provides.  

“I think people automatically put back their chips and pop” when they see her in the grocery store, she laughed. But knowing her patients outside the clinic helps her. If there’s an injury on the school basketball court when Albright is there with her kids, she’ll jump up to treat it – knowing community members will look after her kids while she’s working.  

“My kids go to school with these people, I see their families in the community,” she said. “People share a lot.” 

The post Healthcare at the Top of the World: Long Appointments and Deep Awareness Bolster Health in Alaskan Villages appeared first on Direct Relief.

“There was no electricity, no senior doctor, no communications,” Mahabubara Belee Sikder, a midwife at Bangladesh’s HOPE Midwifery Institute, recalled.

She monitored her patient’s vital signs and attended her until help was available. “Both mother and baby survived,” she recalled, relieved.

Sikder received her midwifery education and training at the HOPE Midwifery Institute, which was founded in 2013 and has rapidly become a competitive and much sought-after program for hopeful midwives. The institute, which trains midwives to work amid the Bangladeshi and Rohingya refugee women of Cox’s Bazar, builds on a growing national and global awareness of the importance of accessible, high-quality, and compassionate maternal health care.

Many hopeful midwives who apply to the program are inspired by their own families, said Sarmin Nesa, vice principal of the institute.

“They see their mother and the babies…not getting enough service during their deliveries,” she explained. “This is the most important thing they share with us, that they would see their mothers’ and [infant siblings’] many challenges.”

The HOPE Foundation for Women and Children of Bangladesh, of which the midwifery institute forms a part, operates a hospital in Cox’s Bazar. The group also operates a separate field hospital located within the area’s Rohingya refugee camps and a new primary and maternal care facility on Moheshkhali Island that is designed to bring healthcare access and reduce maternal mortality. The latter facility aims to serve the approximately 600,000 community members living on nearby islands where perinatal care and skilled birth attendance are difficult to access.

The organization offers mental health services and surgery to repair fistula – a debilitating, complex injury caused by prolonged labor without appropriate care – as well as burns and cleft palates. The setting is challenging, demanding that midwives care both for Bangladeshi women, many living in poverty, and for Rohingya refugees, displaced from their native Myanmar by violence and often living in makeshift shelters.

For many midwives, that challenge is appealing, Nesa said: “They want to save the mothers’ and babies’ lives.”

Refugee mothers are often unwilling to go to a facility for care or delivery, Nesa said. HOPE midwives conduct door-to-door visits, offering information and services to pregnant women. They deliver babies both at facilities and at women’s homes. They screen women for potential complications, so they can be referred to specialty care if needed.

This contact with patients informs the midwives’ approach, Nesa explained: “They are building trusting relationships,” often with patients who have no experience with maternal healthcare and don’t know what to expect.

HOPE midwives are trained to handle emergent situations, such as stabilizing hemorrhage and keeping patients with eclampsia safe until help can arrive. Nesa said a strong focus on respect, communication, and professionalism helps student midwives handle difficult situations. As an example, she described how a woman experiencing a difficult labor kicked a student midwife, who calmly counseled her patient, helping her to relax and deliver her baby safely. After the delivery, Nesa checked in with the student midwife to ask if she was injured or needed support.

“No, ma’am,” she recalled the young woman saying, “I saved their lives, and I delivered the baby.”

“The normal process”

Medglobal’s Bangladesh maternal health facility is located in the Somitipara neighborhood of Cox’s Bazar, where it serves primarily Bangladeshi women who were displaced to the area after a destructive 1991 cyclone. The clinic is consistently over capacity, and a health outpost in one of the camps sees as many as 400 patients per day.

Still, encouraging women to seek maternal health care is often a multi-step process, explained Dr. Rahana Parvin, MedGlobal’s clinical coordinator in Bangladesh.

“This community is not well educated” about health issues, she said. Many of the women approached by a midwife initially feel that, “if you got pregnant, there’s no need to do anything. This is the normal process.”

The organization has responded by getting creative: Mother’s Clubs educate girls and women of reproductive age about healthy pregnancy and maternal healthcare. Women who are willing to give birth in a health facility receive a neonatal kit filled with supplies for their babies. A hotline provides counseling to women experiencing worrying symptoms, and midwives call patients who are due for delivery daily to check in.

Dr. Parvin explained that inadequate nutrition and sanitation, as well as poor living conditions, affect many of their patients’ health. “The living style is really very poor,” she said of her patients. MedGlobal bears all costs associated with maternal healthcare – including transfer to a hospital and a staff escort for patients who have obstetric emergencies – to ensure patients receive the treatment and monitoring they need.

Shipan Akter, a MedGlobal midwife, said that saving the lives of mothers and newborns is her greatest motivation. She’s also acutely aware that the high-quality care and support that MedGlobal provides aren’t always available to women in Bangladesh.

“I work with the hope that one day, every mother in our society will have access to safe childbirth,” she said.

“A famous and popular job”

For the midwives who train and work in these communities, their profession is an opportunity to serve others and protect lives – but it’s also a valued and desirable career path for many women in Bangladesh.

Sanjida Kawsar Tania, a student midwife at HOPE, said she appreciates learning evidence-based treatments for managing emergencies like post-partum hemorrhage and eclampsia. “I get some difficult cases…when I do night shift duty,” she explained.

In addition, Tania said the institute offers a supportive environment, with senior midwives offering advice and teaching new skills to students in training.

“I feel very proud to be a student of HOPE’s midwifery program,” she said.

Akter, who has worked as a midwife with MedGlobal for four years, explained that the organization has helped her build her career as well as care for vulnerable women. “Working here has been a very important chapter of my life,” she said. “It has provided me not only with the opportunity to serve patients but also to enhance my professional skills through training and hands-on experience.”

Maternal and other health needs in Bangladesh continue to be high. Cuts to public aid, ongoing displacement, and inability to access or afford healthcare have all increased the demand for support. Years after the 2017 genocide that forced many to flee Myanmar, Rohingya refugees threatened by violence and instability have continued to arrive in Bangladesh. There, their movements are restricted to within the camps, giving them limited opportunities to earn a living or build new skills, and increasing their need for humanitarian aid.

Nesa explained that Bangladesh’s government employs midwives in communities across the country. At HOPE Midwifery Institute, student midwives receive a combination of classroom education and practical skill-building that will allow them to work in a private or government hospital. About 90% of graduates secure government jobs after completing their certification exams, and HOPE-trained midwives oversee more than 1,000 births per year in the organization’s own facilities.

“Nowadays midwifery is a very famous and popular job” in Bangladesh, she said.

Since 2009, Direct Relief has provided the HOPE Foundation for Women and Children of Bangladesh with 58 shipments of material medical aid, totaling $14.8 million in value. That support includes 94 full midwife kits and 40 resupply kits, enabling 6,700 safe births. The organization has supported MedGlobal Bangladesh with five shipments of medical aid totaling $2.3 million in value. Additional maternal healthcare support to Bangladesh is planned for later this year.

In total, Direct Relief has also provided 21 fistula repair modules to HOPE and other partners in Bangladesh, supporting about 1,200 obstetric fistula repair surgeries, and 45 perinatal kits to treat life-threatening conditions affecting women and infants, including eclampsia, premature birth, infection, and neonatal respiratory distress. More than $664,000 worth of prenatal vitamins, and $1.18 million in total grant funding for healthcare needs, including maternal health, has also been provided to partner health organizations in Bangladesh.

Holland Bool contributed reporting to this story.

The post Bangladesh Maternal Health Programs Save Lives, Educate Mothers, and Build Bright Careers appeared first on Direct Relief.

Laguerre is the chief operating officer of Hospital Albert Schweitzer in central Haiti, and said the power of the country lies in the collaboration of its people.

As security issues persist in the Caribbean nation, health workers said it has become increasingly difficult to import medications and medical supplies. Many doctors and nurses have fled Haiti for their own safety, forcing hospitals to decrease services or shut down. Those who remain have partnered to navigate customs, safe roadways, storage space, and medication deliveries together.

Even though the need for treatments to improve health conditions is growing, health workers in Haiti say that smaller, targeted shipments and strategic navigation among partners have ensured their safety and treatment for patients.

“The biggest thing is to continue to maintain strong ties with community leaders and community members so that we are in tune when there are issues with shipments or in transit,” Laguerre said.

Laguerre’s 200-bed hospital typically orders medications and supplies in bulk due to the many services it provides to patients. Laguerre said that the hospital saw a 20% increase in occupancy as larger hospitals have been forced to reduce services or shut down. When gang activity prevents large deliveries of high-cost medications, the hospital leans on local relationships to maintain the ability to provide care.

Some of those local partner organizations were secured through the Haiti Health Network. The network is a project of the Dalton Foundation and operates to support and strengthen Haiti’s healthcare system. There are over 400 healthcare organizations involved, with 125 based in northern Haiti.

Barbara Campbell, executive director of the Dalton Foundation, said that the ability to purchase medication in Haiti has drastically reduced since the start of the conflict and has only gotten worse over time. The foundation has imported donated medications, but there is a high tax on imports.

Campbell said that the ambiguity of customs charges has made it more difficult to import medications, especially those that need to be used quickly or require cold chain storage.

The Foundation has prioritized small, pulse shipments to prevent high costs and backlog in customs. Once in country, they rely on local partners for distribution.

There is a great need for insulin, HIV medications, antibiotics, hypoglycemic supports, and anesthesia. General medical supplies, like gloves and sutures, are also needed, as well as medical supplies for family planning.

“What really boggles me about what’s going on in Haiti is how little people really seem to care about it,” she said. “I think there are a lot of problems in the world right now, and I definitely don’t want to minimize those or even take any attention away, but what’s going on in Haiti, I will argue, is drastically more barbaric.”

Campbell also said that more than 60% of medical staff in Port-au-Prince have fled the country, resulting in diminished access to care and medication for residents.

“The people you’re losing are administrators, accountants, physicians, and surgeons,” Campbell said. “You’re losing really key personnel that you don’t have a lot of candidates lined up to fill those spots.”

The danger and violence in the area have increased awareness around distribution methods. When new medical shipments are released from customs, the organizations contact one another to determine passable roadways for medical deliveries.

“So much of our success is rooted in our ability to collaborate with partners,” said Skyler Badenoch.  “We share resources and information. We share strategy, and that allows us to be more effective.”

Badenoch is CEO of Hope for Haiti, a charity that provides support to the Haitian people. They’ve partnered with organizations within the Haiti Health Network for the past year. Badenoch said he recently visited the organization’s infirmary in southern Haiti and saw 200 people waiting in line for medical care.

The CEO said they are focusing on the gaps in care, from nutritional supports like prenatal vitamins to more chronic issues that require expensive, daily medications. According to Badenoch, there is an acute shortage of access to healthcare and access to chronic care medications.

“What’s important to note is hypertension and diabetes and asthma and infection take no days off; they’re relentless,” he said.

Each day, there are more displaced families, and the need for integrated and routine health services grows.

Laguerre said there is an evolving need for vaccinations, nutrition services, and regular appointments to prevent worsening health conditions.

“I think the situation is extremely challenging, but it’s pushing all actors on the ground to see what they can do and address the needs that are constantly shifting,” Laguerre said.

Hospital Albert Schweitzer, Haiti Health Network, and Hope for Haiti have all received medical support from Direct Relief in response to current health needs in Haiti. Direct Relief has provided more than $430 million in medical support to health organizations across the country since the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

The post Despite Challenges in Haiti, Local Groups Work Together to Keep Health Services Going appeared first on Direct Relief.

When I returned to California from Africa a few weeks ago, Direct Relief was hosting a remarkable group of visitors from Ukraine: leaders from the UNBROKEN Ukraine National Rehabilitation Center in Lviv, the Protez Foundation, and the Consulate General of Ukraine in San Francisco, along with several children and young adults who had received prosthetics after losing limbs in the war.

Their stories were profoundly moving. The doctors and staff described the staggering number of wounded civilians and soldiers who now rely on their care, and the young patients beside them showed what that care makes possible. Children — some walking into the room on new prosthetic legs — still adapting but smiling and determined (and making snarky jokes in the way that is universal for teenagers). Parents spoke of how vital it was not only to have access to prosthetics and rehabilitation, but also to counseling and peer support as families adjust to an unthinkable reality.

Direct Relief’s support for Ukraine includes funding the fitting of advanced prosthetics, training local specialists, and expanding mental health programs for refugees in partnership with Ukrainian organizations.

Direct Relief has also provided wheelchairs and other mobility aids for injured first responders, delivered specialized transport vehicles to help children with cancer and other conditions reach care, supplied rare cystic fibrosis therapies to patients whose lives depend on them, and donated rheumatoid arthritis medicines that would otherwise be out of reach. This is in addition to ongoing deliveries of requested medications to health providers across the country.

In total, Direct Relief has provided more than 2,900 tons of medical aid, 440 million defined daily doses of medication, $55 million in financial assistance, and $2 billion in material aid for Ukraine since the war began.

But it’s not the scale that stays with me. It’s the people. The experiences they shared—patients walking again, parents navigating unimaginable trauma, doctors and prosthetists carrying the weight—carried me back to Kampala, Uganda. Different places, different circumstances, but a universal truth: health, invisible in its presence but overwhelming in its absence, is the foundation for everything.

-Amy

The post In Santa Barbara, Stories from Ukraine appeared first on Direct Relief.

Speaking virtually, Weaver commended the more than 1,400 free and charitable clinics and charitable pharmacies represented by NAFC for their decades of work to make health care accessible to uninsured and underserved patients.

“Some of the most vital, life-affirming health care in this country is being delivered for free — in clinics that receive no federal funding, are often overlooked in policy conversations, and yet continue to care for people others can’t or won’t,” Weaver said. “You don’t do this work for recognition or headlines. You do it because it’s right. And you do it with skill, compassion, and incredible perseverance.”

Weaver underscored the urgency of supporting these clinics as more Americans lose health insurance or face barriers to care.

“We know where they’ll turn — to you,” she said. “And we also know you can’t absorb this growing need alone. That’s why Direct Relief is here — to support you, stand with you, and ensure that your doors stay open and your shelves stay stocked.”

A Partnership Forged in Crisis

Direct Relief’s partnership with NAFC began 20 years ago during the response to Hurricane Katrina, when free and charitable clinics stepped up to provide essential care amid collapsed health systems. That moment, Weaver noted, shaped how Direct Relief operates today and laid the foundation for a collaboration that has strengthened the grassroots health -care safety net nationwide.

Since that time, Direct Relief has provided more than $1.4 billion in donated medical aid to more than 860 free & charitable clinics and charitable pharmacies, helping to keep shelves stocked and services running.

Beyond product support, $19.5 million in cash grants have been awarded to nearly 100 clinics to strengthen health systems, expand equity initiatives, bolster disaster preparedness and response, and invest in resilient power and infrastructure.

Direct Relief has also committed $10.7 million for direct clinic awards and NAFC program management — including its role as lead sponsor of the annual NAFC Symposium since 2014.

Program Highlights

Weaver spotlighted several joint efforts that have emerged from this long-standing collaboration:

• Community Routes: Access to Mental Health Care – Launched in 2022 with Teva and NAFC, the program expands behavioral health services and provides donated medicines for depression and anxiety, along with grant funding for clinics to increase culturally competent care and outreach.
• Continuity of Care – A multi-year initiative with BD that has supported cancer screenings and follow-up for women’s health at free and charitable clinics since 2017.
• Equity Expansion Grants – In 2024, Direct Relief committed $1 million over two years to strengthen equity initiatives across NAFC member clinics. Awardees of these grants were recognized at this year’s Symposium.
• Inhaler Access Initiative – Launched in 2024 in partnership with Teva to provide free generic inhalers to uninsured patients with asthma and other respiratory conditions.

These programs have helped NAFC clinics — which collectively serve 1.7 million patients through 6 million visits annually with the support of 189,000 volunteers — expand services and strengthen their ability to respond to emergencies.

Shared Values: Health as a Human Right

Weaver emphasized that the most powerful link between Direct Relief and NAFC is a shared commitment to dignity and equity in health care.

“More than any single program, what connects us is a shared belief — that health is a human right, not a privilege. That dignity matters. That everyone deserves a fair chance to live a healthier life,” she said. “You bring that belief to life every single day.”

Closing the two-day gathering, Weaver encouraged clinic leaders to carry the connections forged at the Symposium back to their communities.

“As you return home to your patients and your communities, carry those connections with you — and know that Direct Relief is right there alongside you. We are honored to be your partners, and we look forward to everything we will continue to do together.”

The post Stronger Together: Amy Weaver Highlights 20 Years of Partnership at NAFC Symposium appeared first on Direct Relief.

“That was the moment he decided, ‘What am I doing? This is not sustainable. This is not the life I want for myself and my family,’” recalled Dr. Young, the director of medical services at the Free Clinic of Simi Valley in southern California.

But the patient, who had a highly noticeable, profane tattoo across his forehead, was having difficulty finding employment. He’d received the tattoo while newly imprisoned, and now, several years later, it was keeping him from moving on with his life. “It was so hard to get up in the morning and look at himself and try to make a change,” Dr. Young said.

For the last year and a half, FCSV has provided a tattoo removal service, free of charge, for people who have been incarcerated or experienced human trafficking. The laser used for removal and the associated services were provided by Ventura County, which partners with the clinic to provide this service without cost.

Dr. Young explained that tattoo removal often isn’t just a question of emotionally moving on, or even finding a job: For gang members and people who have escaped from being trafficked, having an identifying tattoo can place them in much greater danger.

“It makes you a marked person,” she said. Removing these symbols “really releases [patients] from the hold they were under.”

Fred Bauermeister, the clinic’s executive director, made clear that, while most tattoo removals are considered cosmetic, not medical, FCSV’s patients are motivated by safety and the hope of financial stability.

“This is not a cosmetic thing,” he said. “These are people who are trying to make better lives.”

For FCSV’s providers, who were specifically trained to practice medicine in rural settings, learning to remove tattoos was a far cry from delivering babies, monitoring chronic diseases, or suturing wounds – which made learning the procedure exciting, Dr. Young said: “That’s something in family practice we don’t see every day,” she said. “It’s fun as doctors to be able to learn new things, and it’s fun to help people in such a positive way.”

While the training that doctors received explained that a professionally inked tattoo might take eight to 10 sessions for removal, they quickly learned that prison tattoos responded much more quickly, within two to three sessions.

Tattoo removals are painful. The laser doctors use essentially irritates the area to encourage the body’s natural defenses to kick in, working to heal the blistering and inflammation – and breaking down the ink’s chemical bonds at the same time, Dr. Young said.

That was the case for the young father with the forehead tattoo.

“Removing a tattoo from the face is not comfortable, but he was in it for a long haul,” she remembered. “Every time he came, it was a little brighter, a little bit further gone, and you could just see him brightening.”

Particular care is taken with survivors of trafficking, who receive services during separate hours and are given complete privacy from other patients while at the clinic.

But while some providers had initial concerns about providing tattoo removals for patients who had been incarcerated, Dr. Young said the experience has been wholly positive.

“We haven’t had a single problem,” she said. “They have been so polite and so kind.”

Some tattoo removal patients are extremely embarrassed or apologetic. Others are simply thrilled.

“They made different life choices earlier, and they want to make a new one, a better one,” Dr. Young said. “It’s hard to do that if you have profanity tattooed on your face.”

The laser used for tattoo removal – as well as the clinic’s medical refrigerators and dental program – is dependent on electricity in an area that experiences frequent power outages. A Direct Relief Power for Health grant of $165,000 funded a resilient solar power system on the clinic’s rooftop that became operational late last year, and an additional grant of $250,000 allowed a battery to be paired with the project – a total of $415,000.

While the Power for Health project was primarily intended to protect vaccines and other clinical operations, having a reliable source of electricity has had positive impacts across the board, Bauermeister said: “It’s a big deal around here when the power goes out.”

Before the solar power system was installed, power outages placed expensive vaccines at risk, often at the height of fire season and just before school began, and frequently shut down operations in the dental program. “Medical can get by with a flashlight,” as Bauermeister explained, but other services were repeatedly compromised.

Being able to reliably provide services during a power outage has made a significant difference to clinic staff, Dr. Young said.

“We’re [a clinic] that’s here for the community,” she explained, adding that FCSV has plans to add a vision clinic to its existing services. “These are just steps that we’re using to help our community grow.”

Like safety net providers across the country, part of FCSV’s work involves connecting patients to partner organizations that help people find stable housing, access health insurance, receive food assistance, and meet other social drivers of health – the non-medical factors that affect health over time. Dr. Young sees the tattoo removal service as similarly impactful: It’s an economical and quick way to help someone move on safely and gain greater financial stability, giving them a better chance at building and maintaining their well-being.

“This was something we could do that not only helps them react to a problem, but solve it before it’s started,” she said.

The post An Unusual Service Keeps Patients Safe, And Aids Healing, at a California Free Clinic appeared first on Direct Relief.

Direct Relief responded immediately — delivering emergency medicines and supplies, granting emergency funds, and supporting outreach teams reaching patients in cut-off areas. One year later, needs have shifted but essential drivers of community health — stable housing, food access, behavioral health and reliable care pathways — remain acute across Helene-affected communities. 

Direct Relief’s sustained support over the past twelve months totals $45.1 million in medical and financial assistance across six states, including $4.6 million in funding to 26 community organizations and $40.5 million in donated medical aid to 137 organizations (about 7 million defined daily doses of medications). 

Direct Relief continues to work alongside local organizations to restore health services, stabilize housing, support mental health and build long-term resilience.

by the Numbers

$45.1 Million

in medical and financial assistance provided to communities affected by Hurricane Helene in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia over the past twelve months

$4.6 Million

in funding to 26 community organizations

$40.5 Million

in donated medical aid and supplies to 137 organizations

7 Million

defined daily doses of medications for respiratory conditions, diabetes, mental health, cardiovascular issues, and skin-related injuries

North Carolina

Rapid Response Anchored In Long-Term Partnerships 

Direct Relief’s response to Hurricane Helene builds on a decades-long commitment to improving health access throughout the US. North Carolina has long been a major recipient of Direct Relief’s ongoing support. That existing presence enabled rapid deployment of mobile clinics, emergency grants and medicine shipments immediately after Helene, and provided the foundation for Direct Relief’s sustained recovery work. The figures listed above reflect Direct Relief’s comprehensive support since Hurricane Helene devastated the region.  

From Emergency Relief to Long-Term Recovery 

In the early aftermath of Helene, Direct Relief prioritized rapid deployment of medicines and supplies to affected clinics and evacuation sites. As communities began the long road to recovery, the focus evolved: helping clinics restore services, addressing mental health needs, stabilizing housing, and investing in infrastructure and resilience. 

This shift reflects the reality of long-term disaster recovery—where health, housing, and access are deeply interconnected, and rebuilding must be driven by those who know the needs best: local organizations. 

Research shows that the mortality and health burden of hurricanes is not limited to immediate storm deaths; long-term excess mortality can be orders of magnitude higher due to disrupted care, displacement and socioeconomic shocks. That long tail reinforces the need for sustained investments in chronic-care continuity, housing stability, mental health, and resilient clinic infrastructure.

Restoring Healthcare Access

Flooding from Helene disrupted access to care in multiple rural counties, damaging clinic infrastructure and disrupting operations. Direct Relief provided emergency grants, shipments of requested medications, mobile medical kits, and operating support to keep rural clinics functioning. 

One year later, Direct Relief continues to support facilities like the Micaville Health Center, which is rebuilding after severe flood damage. The center’s story, featured in “Still Recovering from Helene’s Aftermath”, highlights the vital role of community clinics in disaster recovery. 

Power, Clinic Closures, And The Hidden Health Toll 

Power outages were a major driver of clinic closures and lost care. Direct Relief’s Lights Out research documents widespread outages and service disruptions after Helene (surveyed clinics reported tens of thousands of canceled visits and millions in lost revenue), underscoring the link between lost power and long-term health harms.

Mental Health & Community Wellness 

Emotional recovery has been a major need across Helene-impacted areas. Direct Relief supported Resources For Resilience (RFR) with a $90,000 grant to provide trauma-informed training for frontline healthcare workers, caregivers, and community groups. Workshops offer bilingual access and hands-on tools for managing stress, grief, and uncertainty during recovery. 

Housing and Community Stabilization 

In Swannanoa Valley, the loss of housing from Helene created a crisis that touched every aspect of community health. Direct Relief supported Swannanoa Communities Together (SCT) with an $85,000 emergency grant to stabilize more than 150 households through rental assistance, FEMA navigation, and trauma-informed casework. 

Food Access and Social Determinants Of Health 

Access to nutritious food remains a core challenge for rural families recovering from Helene. Through a $500,000 grant, Direct Relief supported the WNC Food Systems Coalition (WNCFSC) to deliver weekly boxes of fresh, locally sourced food across five counties, paired with health navigation from CHWs embedded in clinics. 

Partner Spotlight

Community Health Network Doula Program 

The Community Health Network of Western North Carolina (CHN) launched a clinic-connected community doula program to address gaps in maternal care. Supported by a $400,000 grant from Direct Relief, the program trains and embeds doulas within rural clinics to assist with prenatal care, perinatal mental health, and culturally responsive services. 

Stories from the Field 

Still Recovering from Helene’s Aftermath 

Post-Hurricane Helene: Meeting Immediate Housing Needs 

Months After Helene, Communities Still Recovering 

Looking Ahead 

Even one year later, the impacts of Hurricane Helene continue to ripple through communities. Housing remains limited. Behavioral health needs are growing, especially in children and young adults. Infrastructure is still being rebuilt. Barriers to care persist and are exacerbated for many who faced challenges before the storm.  

Direct Relief remains committed to standing alongside communities in Western North Carolina—supporting locally led, clinic-connected work with equity at the center—to strengthen rural health access and help build systems that endure through the next storm and beyond. 

The post Hurricane Helene: One Year Later appeared first on Direct Relief.

As of Sept. 18, there were 48 confirmed and probable cases in the Kasai Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to the World Health Organization. Ebola is highly contagious and spreads through contact with bodily fluids and exposed organs, even after death. Ebola has had a disproportionate effect on health care workers and is heightened in areas that lack infection control precautions and have limited access to personal protective equipment like face shields, gloves, gowns, and body coverings.

According to the World Health Organization, four of the deaths this month were health care workers, including two health workers treating a pregnant patient with several symptoms who was admitted and died from organ failure. Vaccinations of healthcare workers and people testing positive for the virus have begun, according to the organization. The WHO reported that 400 doses of Ebola vaccine were sent to hotspots within the province, but the country has a limited stockpile of the drug and is prioritizing the vaccine for patients who have been confirmed to have the virus. Medical supply management also remains challenging, particularly in rural and vulnerable communities.

Direct Relief is in communication with partner organizations in central Africa to monitor cases and support local health providers if needed.

The World Health Organization has reported 16 instances of the deadly virus in the region since the 1970s. Symptoms of the virus can include fever, fatigue, vomiting, and diarrhea. The last reported outbreak within the country occurred in 2022, resulting in the deaths of all five cases. Currently, there are no known cases in the United States, but the country has issued a travel health notice for those traveling to DRC.

Direct Relief has responded to multiple disease outbreaks globally, including the 2014 West Africa Ebola outbreak, which killed more than 11,000 people across multiple countries.

In response to that outbreak, Direct Relief donated approximately $40 million in medical aid and 476 tons of essential medical supplies and protective equipment for health workers to combat Ebola in Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone. At that time, the three countries had more than 70% of Ebola cases in the region.

Direct Relief continues to support health systems across the continent, including health organizations operating in the DRC. Earlier this year, Direct Relief provided emergency funds to support health staff at Jericho Road Wellness Clinic in Goma during civil unrest in the region and for disease prevention and treatment during a spike in cases of mpox.

Direct Relief has also worked with world health leaders to coordinate access to personal protection equipment and drafted a policy on best practices for Ebola donations. The organization will continue to monitor and respond as medical needs become known.

The post Direct Relief Monitors Health Outlook in Central Africa as Ebola Cases Climb appeared first on Direct Relief.

Weather agencies recorded the storm reaching sustained wind speeds of 165 miles per hour, equivalent to a Category Five hurricane, making it the most powerful storm in the world so far in 2025.

Thousands of people in the Philippines were evacuated due to the storm, and the country’s weather agency warned that storm surge could exceed 10 feet, with low-lying areas particularly vulnerable.

Schools and government offices were closed in 29 regions of Luzon, the country’s largest and most populous island, which sits just south of the storm’s path and contains the capital city of Manila.

The storm’s trajectory was prompting evacuations this week in mainland China, as well as in Hong Kong, which was expected to see the storm make landfall on Wednesday. Areas across the region are bracing for storm impacts as the storm moves westward.

Direct Relief is currently coordinating with the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation as well as the National Disaster Risk Reduction Council as they respond to the effects of the super typhoon. Direct Relief has a longstanding relationship with the ASEAN Coordinating Center for Humanitarian Assistance, or AHA Center, which facilitates coordination and cooperation among ASEAN member states.

Direct Relief has a long history of responding to disasters in the region, including a long history of supporting communities impacted by major disasters in Southeast Asia and beyond, including responses to the Sulawesi and Lombok Earthquakes in Indonesia (2018), Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines (2013), the Indian Ocean Tsunami (2004), and repeated flooding and cyclone events throughout the region.

Direct Relief has staff in the Philippines and will continue to monitor medical needs as they become known.

The post Strongest Storm of 2025 Roars through Southeast Asia, Region Braces for More Impacts appeared first on Direct Relief.

“They just had a baby last year…they’re stressed, it’s a lot of work for them at home,” she explained. “When you see a patient like this, you’re like, ‘Would you desire a long-term birth control? We put it in and you don’t have to think about it.’”

For Joseph, a nurse practitioner at Healthcare Network of Southwest Florida, helping these women access the right contraceptive care is a passion – and a health justice issue.

“We can reduce unintended pregnancies. Patients can get the birth control that they would like, they have more understanding, they know their options,” she said. “The goal is to promote health and wellness in women.”

Healthcare Network, a federally qualified health center in Collier County, Florida, cares for primarily rural patients who often have low health literacy, may speak Spanish or Haitian Creole as a primary language, or need culturally sensitive care.

“A lot of our patients have cultural and religious beliefs,” Joseph said. Many have heard misinformation from family, friends, or social media. Asking patients, “Why does that concern you? Why do you feel this way? What information do you need?” often helps her get to the heart of patients’ concerns and help them develop a more accurate understanding of family planning options.

Joseph is of Haitian descent, a background that helps her connect to patients who are wary of medical information. “They kind of have a sense of safety: ‘You’re Haitian, you speak Creole,’” she said.

Healthcare Network works to reach patients of reproductive age (approximately 15 to 44 years old) with accurate information about contraception and family planning – helping them prevent unwanted pregnancies and achieve the best reproductive outcomes for their lives. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 45% of pregnancies in the U.S. are unintended, with rates highest among people with lower levels of education and income, people of color, and people between the ages of 15 and 24.

To help the health center provide culturally appropriate, non-stigmatizing, and accurate contraceptive care to more women, Direct Relief designated them one of four awardees for the 2025 Community Health Awards: Locally-Driven Approaches to Prevent Unintended Pregnancy.

These awards, funded by women’s health company Organon, provide four $200,000 awards over two years to nonprofit partners working to prevent unintended pregnancies in vulnerable patient populations. Each of the four awardees provides contraceptive services and education in an under-resourced area, through programs designed to meet the unique needs of their local communities.

“A bigger need”

Lowering barriers to contraceptive care is complicated, explained Deisy Martinez, Healthcare Network’s obstetric care coordinator. A patient population with low health literacy requires clear information in simple terms, sometimes illustrated with pictures. Transportation makes it hard for many patients to maintain continuity of care. Women in traditional family structures may depend on their husbands to make family planning decisions.

Of the approximately 10,800 women of childbearing age served by Healthcare Network last year, only about 2,500 receive contraceptive care. In the next two years, their goal is to bring that number to 3,500.

In many cases, the best way to ensure patients have accurate information about contraception and know the best decision for them is to start a conversation, Martinez explained. For example, a woman may not want to have more children, but may want to continue experiencing her menstrual cycle, worry about weight gain, or be concerned about maintaining future fertility.

“We ask a lot of questions…to understand where our patients are coming from,” said Gabrielle O’Boyle, Healthcare Network’s senior director of marketing and communications.

Earning trust means offering reliable interpreters, layperson-friendly language, and helpful visual aids, O’Boyle said. Because Healthcare Network is active in the community, O’Boyle said, offering healthcare services at schools, community health fairs, and home visits, people know “we are a safe place to get care and that we welcome patients of all backgrounds.”

For Joseph, a program specifically aimed at reducing unintended pregnancies meets “a bigger need”: Her patients “need the care, they’re not really informed like they should be. There’s a lot of language barriers, there’s a lot of culture barriers,” she said.

“They’re just not aware of what’s out there”

Healthcare Network will use the Community Health Award to support the Contraceptive Access, Resources, and Education (CARE) program, a multi-faceted approach to preventing unwanted pregnancies. Staff members will be trained in new approaches to contraceptive counseling, with a focus on providing care that is culturally sensitive and non-stigmatizing. Contraceptive counseling will help women choose and implement their preferred method of preventing pregnancy. In addition to providing contraceptive services in on-site clinics, health workers will offer contraceptive education and counseling through telehealth and Healthcare Network’s mobile unit, the Van Domelen Health Express, which travels to geographically isolated areas to offer a range of preventive, dental, and primary health services.

In addition, Healthcare Network will use the award funding to develop informative, engaging content about contraception, including videos for social media – three each year, featuring expert information and lived experiences and offered in English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole – and programming for a local radio station.

Martinez explained that an earlier series of videos — focused on maternal health issues like nutrition, gestational hypertension, and diabetes — made the new project a natural fit for them. The maternal health videos introduced women in the community to accurate information and explained how the health center could help them maintain their health during pregnancy.

Healthcare Network “treats about 90% of this community,” Martinez said. The goal is to teach patients about the range of services on offer, and to help overcome hesitation, misinformation, and stigma. “We…understand that some people have never seen a contraceptive device. Some people have never seen a condom before.”

Joseph said helping patients find the birth control method that’s right for them is rewarding. A patient who kept forgetting to take birth control pills but is thrilled with a patch or vaginal ring, or one who was worried about side effects and is now delighted with her IUD, can make her day.

Often, “they’re just not aware of what’s out there,” she said.

The post Increasing Access to Care in a Rural Florida Community appeared first on Direct Relief.

Kılıç, a professor of public health at Turkey’s Dokuz Eylul University and president of its Association of Public Health Specialists, known as HASUDER, explained that maternal and reproductive health are often overlooked in the aftermath of disaster – as are the increased risks of sexual violence, women’s hygiene issues, and sexually transmitted infections.

The 2023 earthquake killed more than 59,000 people in Turkey and Syria, displaced as many as 3 million, many of them already refugees from Syria. The quake caused damage and displacement across 11 Turkish provinces, which was most challenging for women and children. In the hard-hit province of Hatay alone, more than 200 camps, container cities, and other temporary settlements were created to house hundreds of thousands of displaced people.

The lack of women’s healthcare “was a very big and serious problem in the camps,” he said.

More than two years after the earthquake, HASUDER has found that women’s health needs continue to be unmet. Women and girls in temporary settlements report increased exposure to violence, both from family members and strangers. Unsanitary conditions and a lack of clean toilets and showers have led to increased urinary tract and vaginal infections. These displaced women and girls are more likely to be forced into marriage, to experience unintended pregnancies in unsafe conditions, and to contract sexually transmitted infections.

Closed-down primary care centers and maternal health facilities have made it harder to receive prenatal care and safely give birth, significantly increasing the risk of maternal and child mortality. (While HASUDER estimates that the earthquake-affected areas can expect to see about 20,000 births per month, the current healthcare capacity is far lower.)

The organization puts it bluntly: “Disaster has a gender.”

To meet women’s health needs in the aftermath of the 2023 earthquake, Direct Relief awarded grant funding to HASUDER and the Turkish Family Health and Planning Foundation, or TAPV: above $655,000 to HASUDER and $375,000 to TAPV. For more than two years, these organizations continued to offer mobile women’s health services, referrals, community outreach, and education in displacement camps, container settlements, and other affected communities. Today, they are focused on increasing their capacity and training for future emergency response work.

HASUDER and TAPV provided a wide range of services, from education about vaccines, birth control, and hygiene to cancer screenings and hospital referrals for high-risk pregnancies. Both organizations offered services in Turkish and Arabic, making access easier for refugee patients.

By working with local partners and authorities, surveying affected communities to determine needs and approach, and employing flexible strategies to help women access care effectively, they offer essential models for a longer-term approach to meeting health needs after a disaster.

HASUDER provided sexual and reproductive healthcare services to more than 7,200 women affected by the earthquake in Hatay Province over an 18-month period. TAPV provided healthcare services, referrals, and education to more than 8,400 women – through household visits, cancer screenings, family planning, and more – over the course of ten months.

For healthcare workers at TAPV, mobile health services and referrals to hospitals for women who were unwell or experiencing high-risk pregnancies were high priorities. Also top of mind were focus groups and in-depth conversations with women in affected communities about the services available to them.

One patient who noticed a lump in her breast during self-examination was referred to a cancer treatment center, where a high-risk mass was detected, and she was able to undergo treatment. Many women experiencing high-risk pregnancies had never sought maternal healthcare, but were willing to receive healthcare services after receiving counseling from TAPV team members.

A number of women living in container cities, interviewed about their experiences with TAPV, described learning about critical health services. Those included cancer screenings, being informed about family planning and preventing sexually transmitted infections, and understanding the importance of prenatal care and vaccines for their newborns. Women whose husbands were abusive and prevented access to contraception were able to access it by working with a reproductive health counselor.

“After the earthquake, we had actually forgotten about this information,” one woman said during an interview. “More precisely, we had forgotten ourselves as women—we had forgotten how challenging gynecological health issues can be. Through this project, we became aware of these again.”

Nurcan Müftüoğlu, TAPV’s executive director, explained that many of the issues healthcare teams worked to resolve are rooted in culture, which doesn’t prioritize women’s sexual and reproductive health. Women’s health needs, already likely to be overlooked in disaster situations, are even more likely to go unmet in situations where they were not already a high priority.

Many of the women whom TAPV reached are Syrian refugees, who Müftüoğlu explained are already underserved and hesitant to access health services. Transportation to health facilities, even for women eager to reach them, was often nonexistent, so TAPV worked to arrange transportation services for women needing cancer screening or other facility-based care. Many primary care facilities are heavily damaged or simply closed.

“These are more reasons for a crisis situation,” Müftüoğlu said.

HASUDER nurses noted that forced marriage of girls as young as 16 – and even younger among refugee populations – is a growing problem in earthquake-affected regions because the schools are closed. “The girl child is seen as a surplus in the family,” a report from nursing staff explained. Many men do not allow their wives to use contraception, or deny their wives medical treatments that they worry may damage their kidneys or cause weight gain. Misinformation is rife, and violence against women a widespread problem.

Kılıç said that the women’s health needs his mobile teams encountered were huge, ranging from a lack of underwear, sanitary pads, and clean facilities to more complex issues like maternal health and gender-based violence.

Building trust was a high priority, he said. About two years ago, when HASUDER teams began providing traveling clinics in mobile medical units, it was hard to convince many women to access health services or discuss intimate issues like contraception and hygiene.

Then, things changed.

“A few months later, we noticed that at every camp there is a leader woman,” Kılıç recalled. (Informal community leaders are a common presence in refugee settings, where people designate trusted community members to advocate for their interests, build vital relationships, and let them know who’s safe to trust.) HASUDER’s team began cultivating relationships with these community leaders, calling them before driving to a camp site to let them know what services would be available, answer questions, and cultivate a relationship.

Very quickly, Kılıç said, they began seeing hundreds of women each month.

“Every woman [leader] in every camp started to call our team,” he said. They were asking, “‘When will you come again?’”

The post After Turkey’s Cataclysmic Earthquake, Women’s Health Programs Offer a Model for Long-Term Disaster Response appeared first on Direct Relief.

“This was my eighth trip to Ukraine,” said Chris Manson, founder of U.S. Ambulances for Ukraine, an Illinois-based NGO that supplied more than 100 ambulances, fire trucks, and auxiliary vehicles to Ukraine’s emergency services and other first responders since 2022.

“While I have had to go into shelters before because of air raids, this was the first time I could hear anti-aircraft fire, hear the drones clearly, see the search lights, and see, hear, and feel the explosions when the drones were hit or they crashed into the ground.”

As Manson and his team watched the attack unfold, he realized that the vehicles they had previously sent with support from Direct Relief would likely be working that night in Kyiv and elsewhere in the country.

“It felt good knowing that the vehicles we had delivered to Ukraine from the U.S. would help address some of the suffering caused by the attack. And that reinforced that what we were doing was right, and worthwhile,” Manson, a former firefighter, said by phone on his way back home via Warsaw.

Another Side to Medical Assistance for Ukraine

While the supply of medicines and medical products remains the focus of Direct Relief’s support for Ukraine, another concern is ensuring that emergency care is provided where it is needed – and fast.

Direct Relief has so far donated five new ambulances to support healthcare in Ukraine, with the vehicles going to work in hospitals in Lviv and other locations. By supporting grass-roots initiatives like Manson’s, points of need are often identified, and damage to first responder capacities across the country can be repaired.

By May 2025, Ukrainian authorities had reported that more than 400 of the country’s medical ambulances had been destroyed, damaged, or seized during the war.

Since 2023, Direct Relief has supported Manson’s NGO in shipping almost half of the 104 vehicles donated to Ukraine by hospitals, police departments, fire brigades, and other groups across the United States. They were transferred to local emergency services and NGOs to begin what is regarded as their “next life” after years of service in the United States.

While ambulances are the main vehicle type donated, the 11 fire trucks sent also helped save many people’s lives, Manson emphasized.

“These American fire engines have played a pivotal role in some of the hardest hit areas of Ukraine, including in Odesa and Kharkiv,” he said. “It’s a great feeling knowing our retired fire engines from the U.S. are saving lives halfway around the world.”

“With the help of this fire truck [pictured at the top of this story], we extinguished 824 fires in 2024, most of which started after missile bombardments and drone attacks,” said Serhii Perov, the head of Odesa’s volunteer firefighting unit, which supports the state emergency services and has its own geographical area of responsibility.

His unit received seven donated vehicles from the U.S. since 2022, helping to alleviate the situation in one of Ukraine’s hardest-hit cities. In September, his unit will open a second fire station equipped with vehicles exclusively donated from the United States.

Vehicles are accepted only in good working condition, but might have varying amounts of mileage, from 20,000 to more than 400,000 miles. Each has its own story before and after donation.

An ambulance Perov’s unit received a year ago from Valparaiso, Indiana, has been instrumental in saving many lives. As well as helping victims of military action, it rushed an eight-month-old baby girl to the hospital just in time for heart surgeons to save her life, the firefighter told Direct Relief.

“It did amazing work in the United States and now continues to work in Odesa,” said Perov, whose team of around 40 volunteers had just used the donated equipment to extinguish seven fires on two successive nights of drone and missile strikes.

The entire undertaking grew from one simple question: “Dad, how can we help?” asked Manson’s 7-year-old daughter, Lily, as they watched TV news footage of Ukrainian families being separated at railway stations at the start of the war.

Help Across the Globe

More than 10,500 miles away from Ukraine, when the news of the invasion broke, New Zealander Tenby Powell was contemplating his next life steps during a trip into the wilds after undergoing cancer surgery.

“It was never the intention to have the biggest New Zealand-flagged humanitarian organization. It was to just get stuck in and do what I could,” said Powell, a successful businessman with years of military service under his belt.

Nonetheless, that’s what grew from this impulse to help: Powell returned from the bush, set off for Ukraine, and founded Kiwi Aid & Refugee Evacuation, or Kiwi K.A.R.E. Fast-forward to 2025, and the organization has not only sent 45 ambulances to Ukraine (mainly donated in New Zealand and Australia) but is running programs in other areas of need.

Its Road-of-Life program has so far evacuated more than 3,000 civilians from frontline areas, some into Poland and Germany, and conducts short and long-haul patient transfers to and from hospitals using some of the donated vehicles.

Add to that the distribution of hundreds of tons of humanitarian supplies and the fabrication of some 4,500 wood-burning stoves and water boilers, recycled from old electrical water cylinders, and this Kiwi NGO has built a broad humanitarian aid platform uniting donors and partners in Ukraine and globally.

“We’ve had the most extraordinary support from within New Zealand, and with the incredible support from Direct Relief, we’ve been able to move mountains,” said Powell, who now spends about half of each year in Ukraine due to the great travelling distance to and from his homeland.

“We have plans to augment Road-of-Life as an outreach program, offering regular mobile health clinics in areas where civilians haven’t seen a health professional for years,” said Powell.

Following Ukraine’s major counteroffensive in 2022, Kiwi K.A.R.E gained access to newly liberated areas and held pop-up health clinics. The Ukrainian doctor and Canadian nurse who accompanied the NGO on their first trip were immediately overwhelmed with the need.

“We were completely unprepared for what confronted us,” Powell recalled. “The queue of mostly the elderly and children seeking medical help stretched 200 meters within minutes. Their [conditions] ranged from chronic chest infections, unset fractures, and significant toothache, to cancer patients needing access to medication and transportation to the hospital. Road-of-Life was incepted almost immediately, and the ambulances have not stopped rolling.”

The post Providing Wheeled Support for Ukraine’s First Responders appeared first on Direct Relief.

Just before leaving for Africa, I finished John Green’s new book, Everything Is Tuberculosis. One line stayed with me: “Where are the drugs? The drugs are where the disease is not… and where is the disease? The disease is where the drugs are not.”

That paradox was evident as I entered the Global HOPE pediatric cancer ward in Kampala, Uganda.

Courage in Kampala

I met children whose courage far outweighed their years, and parents who had put everything else in life on hold to be by their side. Some families had fled war in Sudan, while others had traveled hundreds of miles from Eritrea and Ethiopia. None could afford care.

Yet here, in close quarters filled with IV poles and the sounds of children enduring nausea and fatigue, world-class care is offered, free of charge. Ugandan doctors, trained through fellowships with Texas Children’s Hospital, are building extraordinary local capacity. They are true heroes.

But medical training is not enough without the medicines and diagnostics that make treatment possible. That is where partnerships matter. Through Teva Pharmaceuticals’ donations of essential cancer drugs, and Direct Relief’s logistics to deliver them precisely where they are needed, these doctors can translate their training into lives saved.

The difference is striking: in the United States, more than 80 percent of children with cancer survive. In much of sub-Saharan Africa, fewer than 30 percent do. Thanks to Global HOPE, survival rates are climbing toward the World Health Organization’s goal of 60 percent. In Malawi alone, the program now treats nearly 300 children with cancer each year, provides care for 700 more with blood disorders, and in 2023, delivered 430,000 doses of medicine to over 1,000 young patients.

The statistics lay bare the enormity of the challenge, but also the progress Global HOPE has made, despite steep odds. What I saw in Kampala made John Green’s words feel more like an imperative than an observation: medicines must follow disease, resources must follow need, wherever people are.

If you haven’t already, I highly recommend John Green’s book, Everything Is Tuberculosis. You can also listen to his interview on Masters of Scale.

Coincidentally, I also had the opportunity to join Jeff Berman on Masters of Scale last week.

We discussed taking leaps, navigating change, and the steps that led me to Direct Relief — an organization dedicated to putting medicines where the disease is. I look forward to sharing more on this soon.

-Amy

The post Where the Medicine Isn’t appeared first on Direct Relief.

It’s an enduring problem that the organization Swannanoa Communities Together has worked to overcome since the major storm inundated the area in September 2024. The grassroots group was founded by a group of women residents who saw a need in their community and wanted to make a difference.

Since Helene, SCT has supported 156 households with access to emergency housing, utility payments, and home repairs. The organization has also been working to meet basic needs other than housing, including access to food, transportation, medical care, FEMA navigation, resources, and referrals.

The group ensures the neighborhoods and communities within the Swannanoa Valley are working together to be represented, advocated for, and have access to shared resources. A year into storm recovery, their work will continue as they participate in county-led plans to revitalize the area.

Earlier this year, Direct Relief staff met with Swannanoa Communities Together in North Carolina to tour the area and gain an understanding of the housing challenges. Due to the fragility of the ongoing recovery process, SCT has asked that none of its members be quoted in this story.

Helene’s Lasting Impacts

Located between Asheville and Black Mountain, the unincorporated area of Swannanoa was poised for growth in 2023. The housing stock was predominantly comprised of owner-occupied single-family homes, and there was a need for more affordable, quality dwellings. Area planning groups anticipated a population increase of anywhere from 55,000 to 83,000 residents by 2045, bringing with it a need for more housing, as well as the potential for job growth. Swannanoa had the potential for an equitable and vibrant future.

Then came Helene.

At 5 a.m. on September 26, 2024, neighbors from Moffit Road and River Knoll Drive texted each other as water seeped into their homes. The area, divided by the Swannanoa River and connected by Tunnel Road, was inundated.

Those who could leave evacuated the area. Others, some with large families or pets, quickly became stuck in their homes. Water flooded the streets, making them impassable. Some escaped to neighbors’ and friends’ homes. Destruction tore through the town, completely washing away some structures.

A resident within the Moffit Branch Community said they watched the water rise quickly. Some went to the roofs of their homes to escape. A man jumped into the water and floated toward a gas station. The man’s neighbors shouted his description to a search and rescue team, who eventually pulled him out to safety.

A Year Later, Many Residents Still in Housing Limbo

In the initial days that followed the storm, Swannanoa’s population density decreased by 44%, according to CrisisReady data. As of August 5, 2025, over 6,800 people across western North Carolina remain in housing limbo. These residents are using rental assistance, mobile housing and trailers, and FEMA’s direct lease program to support temporary housing costs, according to the state’s Department of Health and Human Services.

However, an accurate picture of the population’s density and surviving housing structures is difficult to capture, according to Swannanoa Communities Together. Official counts exclude residents who have moved in with friends or family, who have used their own resources to rent temporary housing, those in mobile structures, and the unhoused.   

Historically, Swannanoa is known as a semi-rural and working-class area. The women of SCT said they hope the value of their community, a beautiful, diverse, and affordable place to live, will outlast Helene’s devastation.

Swannanoa was a community with long-term residents. SCT women say they worry that families, like the parents of two children who had to wade through the water, won’t return due to the trauma they experienced trying to escape from their homes.

The area also had a dense mobile home community. About 15% of home structures were mobile homes, higher than the mobile home rate across the rest of the county. Now, it’s unclear how many reside in the Asheville suburb, since population counts largely exclude residents in insecure housing situations.

SCT said that some residents are in unconventional housing situations because obtaining housing assistance has been cumbersome.

The state funded a trailer program as a temporary solution, but the structures didn’t fit the needs of the community and there was dismal application interest. Some Swannanoa residents were living in temporary housing prior to the storm through local motels. These individuals did not qualify for housing assistance because they neither owned nor rented and didn’t qualify as unhoused by FEMA standards.

DHHS reported that 377 homes have been rebuilt or repaired by nonprofits through state funding. FEMA approved $490 million for household repairs and reconstruction.

North Carolina also received a $1.65 billion Community Development Block Grant for disaster recovery that will be used for home repairs in single-family homes across the 29 counties affected by Hurricane Helene in western NC.

While money was available to homeowners, some say they are still fearful of how Swannanoa will change moving forward.

SCT said that residents fear the township will favor tourism and high-end retirement housing development, rather than basic needs for existing residents. The suburb is a 15-minute drive to the county seat of Asheville. The town is surrounded by protected parks and mountains and has ample land available, which makes it rich for potential development opportunities.

Working for Equitable Housing for the Future

SCT leadership agreed; Swannanoa’s greatest needs are affordable housing, transit, healthcare, and education. They said that basic needs must be at the center; otherwise, gentrification will be the default. According to the women, growth in the township should focus on the needs of existing residents.

One woman from the grassroots group was appointed to the steering committee for the Swannanoa Small Area Plan in August. The planning process just began and has an extensive community engagement process outlined through September 2026.

However, a community engagement process requires involved residents, which is difficult for people who are still trying to figure out basic needs.

Still, the group continues to serve the community by supporting immediate needs as well as being a key player in long-term planning for the area as it rebuilds.

Direct Relief provided Swannanoa Communities Together with $85,000 in funds to assist with housing support and community wellness in the area in Hurricane Helene’s aftermath.

The post Post-Hurricane Helene, Meeting Immediate Housing Needs While Rebuilding for the Future appeared first on Direct Relief.

Patients arrive already stretched by rent, groceries, and the rising price of prescriptions. The clinics that serve them are stretched as well, operating on razor-thin margins as utility bills climb and demand for care surges. In that environment, every dollar saved carries outsized weight. When a clinic cuts its energy bill, the savings are not abstract line items but tangible resources: hours added to keep the doors open, a new nurse hired, a pharmacy stocked. For patients with nowhere else to go, those savings translate directly into access to care.

Microgrids Deliver Savings

That’s why Ampla Health, a Federally Qualified Health Center serving rural Northern California, turned to solar microgrids. With support from Direct Relief, the organization installed systems at two of its facilities in 2022. The result: tens of thousands of dollars saved on utility bills at a time when rates were climbing fast.

“The bill has been extremely low as a result of the system,” said John Fleming, Ampla’s director of planning and development. With those savings, Ampla is planning to expand services at its Magalia clinic and add an on-site pharmacy. “Anything we can do to be more efficient, more effective, saving dollars, that means more that we can do for the community,” Fleming said.

The story is similar across the state. The Free Clinic of Simi Valley in Ventura County, which serves a largely uninsured patient base, reports more than $11,000 saved in the first year after installing a rooftop solar array funded by Direct Relief. That drop in utility costs — about 40 percent — is now being reinvested in expanded medical, dental, counseling and legal programs.

In Shasta County, Shingletown Medical Center’s hybrid solar-battery system now covers 60 percent of its electricity use, cutting annual costs by an estimated $15,000. The system has also kept the clinic open during wildfire-related outages, when losing power could mean cancelled appointments and spoiled vaccines.

At Harmony Health in Yuba County, the first year of microgrid operations translated into $9,000 in savings, or roughly a quarter off its utility bills. In Sonoma County, Alliance Medical Center’s Direct Relief–funded system saved more than $13,000 in its first year, a 26 percent reduction.

“For a community health center like ours, those savings help sustain essential patient services,” said Sue Labbe, Alliance’s CEO. “Just as importantly, the microgrid provides critical resilience and ensures uninterrupted access to care for our patients during power outages or emergencies.”

The Value of Resilience

The financial savings are immediate, but the resilience may matter most. Many of the clinics with Direct Relief–funded installations sit in areas scarred by recent fires — Magalia near the 2018 Camp Fire, Simi Valley near the 2025 Palisades Fire, Marysville near the 2020 North Complex Fire, Healdsburg near the 2017 Tubbs Fire. All are in zones Cal Fire and the California Public Utilities Commission classify as extreme or elevated fire threat areas.

For these clinics, staying operational during a grid failure can be a matter of life and death. Solar microgrids allow them to continue operating when the power goes out, protecting medicines that need refrigeration, keeping appointments on the books, and ensuring staff can keep caring for patients.

“Utility bill reductions may be the most immediate and rewarding benefit, because they accrue savings from day one regardless of power outages,” said Sara Rossi, Direct Relief’s managing director of health resiliency. “Now we have evidence from several California health centers that these projects are delivering real savings that are making a difference to the bottom lines of our partners.”

Building for the Future

Ampla, Simi Valley, Shingletown, Harmony and Alliance are part of a growing cohort of safety-net clinics adopting solar microgrids through Direct Relief’s Power for Health Initiative. As of August 2025, the nonprofit has supported 11 completed installations across California, with 10 more in development. Nationally and internationally, more than $46 million has been invested in resilient power projects in the U.S. and 22 other countries.

For safety-net providers, the math is simple. Every dollar not spent on electricity, and every hour not lost to an outage, is another chance to keep the doors open for patients who have nowhere else to turn.

The post Solar Microgrids Help California Clinics Save on Energy, Expand Care appeared first on Direct Relief.