Urgently-Needed Medical Aid Headed to Mauritania

“In crowded refugee camps, disease can spread like wildfire…”Dr. Frank Bia, AmeriCares Medical DirectorAs civil instability continues in Mali, AmeriCares has sent a new shipment of emergency medical aid to partners working in Mauritania to curb the spread of deadly diseases including malaria and cholera that persist in camps crowded with refugees fleeing the conflict.Beginning in 2012, the civil conflict in Mali has further intensified a lingering hunger crisis, which affected millions of people across the Sahel region of West Africa from Senegal to Cameroon. At the peak of the crisis, tens of thousands of refugees fled Mali to neighboring Mauritania, which still hosts the highest number of Malian refugees in the region. The Mbera camp in Mauritania is still home to approximately 75,000 people. Many of the refugees have lived at the camp for over a year, relying on humanitarian organizations for food, shelter, and medical care.“In crowded refugee camps, disease can spread like wildfire” said Dr. Frank Bia, Medical Director at AmeriCares. “This delivery of antibiotics and other basic medicines could help save lives.”The shipments are the most recent in a series of aid deliveries aimed at reducing the level of human suffering among displaced people and affected communities in the Sahel region, grappling with civil conflict and the ongoing food crisis. Our response to date includes:

• An emergency aid shipment to the Mbera refugee camp in Mauritania, including relief supplies, antibiotics, intravenous solutions and pain medications for partners working in health posts serving the displaced and host communities. 
• Nearly 6 million P&G Purifier of Water packets to Cameroon, Mali, Mauritania and Niger. This includes a recent shipment to the Mbera camp, containing enough supplies to provide 25,000 people with clean drinking water for 5 months. 
• Two emergency air shipments of urgently-needed medical aid to Mali in April and May 2013, to help alleviate a critical shortage of medicines in the country’s war-torn North.
• Emergency module sent to Mali and Niger in 2012, which contained medicines along with medical and humanitarian supplies.

AmeriCares has a long history of delivering aid to help people affected by drought and food insecurity. In 2011, AmeriCares launched a large-scale response to drought and famine in Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia, delivering more than $2 million in aid, including nutritional supplements, medicines, water purification tablets, and medical supplies. AmeriCares began working in Mali in 2004, assisting national efforts to control trachoma with shipments of antibiotics and surgical supplies. Learn more about our work in Mali here.Donate Now