AmeriCares Reaches Out Again to Myanmar

AmeriCares is preparing to send a second major shipment of medicines and medical supplies to Myanmar this week, as part of a sustained effort in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis.  The 7,000-pound shipment contains antibiotics, analgesics, IV fluids, pain relievers and other essential medicines and supplies valued at more than $825,000. 

The AmeriCares relief shipment is supporting the creation and opening of a network of primary care clinics that will serve large populations of displaced persons living in temporary shelters. In collaboration with our partner on the ground, the International Organization for Migration, AmeriCares is supplying 10 clinics with basic medical equipment, instruments and essential medicines.  The shipment also contains malaria medications that will support another partner in Myanmar, The MENTOR Initiative, which is coordinating a campaign to aid in the treatment of this serious disease.

One of the first nonprofit organizations to deliver aid directly into Myanmar, AmeriCares airlifted more than 15 tons of critically needed medicines and medical supplies to survivors of the cyclone after the disaster. Within 48 hours of the airlift’s arrival, the medicines and supplies were in the hands of mobile medical teams that were responding to survivors’ health needs. Each mobile medical team saw as many as 100 patients per day.

Cyclone Nargis swept across Myanmar on May 2 and 3, creating a huge tidal wave that killed an estimated 138,000 people and devastated the Irrawaddy Delta region.  Two months after the disaster, there are still an estimated 2.4 million survivors in need of aid.

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