Medications shipped this week included rare disease therapies, diabetes management medications, chronic disease treatments, and more.

Expanding Resilient Power for U.S. Healthcare Safety Net

This week, Direct Relief announced a new $10 million commitment to bring clean, resilient backup power to more facilities that serve low-income people in medically underserved areas across the United States.

Extreme weather events and emergency situations create enhanced health risks for people who rely on nonprofit health facilities. Such events create new health risks and the need for expanded health services, even as the availability of services is likely to be severely reduced or lost due to power outages.

Direct Relief’s Power for Health Initiative provides grant funding to health clinics that serve vulnerable and underserved patient populations to cover the design, installation, operation, and maintenance of solar power and battery storage microgrids. The nonprofit clinics and health centers own the systems and derive 100% of the benefits – the resiliency benefits coming from batteries that provide power in the event of an outage, and the immediate and recurring financial benefits of reduced utility costs coming from generating their own electricity through the solar panels.

More Power for Health projects continue to come online at nonprofit clinics and health centers nationwide, with 20 completed projects in Puerto Rico, Louisiana, North Carolina, and California and dozens in the design and construction pipeline – including in Texas and Florida. The latest facilities where Direct Relief-funded resilient power systems have been completed include Harmony Health Medical Clinic (Marysville, CA), in an area prone to explosive wildfires, and Goshen Medical Center (Tabor City, NC), at high risk of hurricanes.

Read more.

Most Powerful Storm in a Decade, Super Typhoon Yagi Strikes China

A powerful super typhoon struck southern China on Friday, bringing wind speeds of more than 138 miles per hour to the island of Hainan. Super Typhoon Yagi made landfall on the island located south of mainland China, and about 400,000 residents had been evacuated to higher ground ahead of the storm, the strongest recorded in the region since a 2014 storm that killed 46 people.

The storm is expected to cause major damage in Hainan and China’s most populous province, Guangdong. Yagi’s path caused impacts in the Phillippines earlier this week.

Direct Relief is monitoring the storm and its impact and will respond to the region as needed.

Medical Support Arrives for Ukrainian Hospitals

Relief for Ukraine continues, and this week a Direct Relief shipment arrived for distribution in Mykolaiv, located in southern Ukraine. Medicines for treatment of epilepsy, medications for heart conditions, wound dressings and surgical supplies and IV fluids were all included, and will be distributed by the organization Ukrainian Soul to hospitals and emergency medical centers in the region.

Since February 2022, Direct Relief has provided more than $1.3 billion in support to Ukraine and refugees in surrounding countries.

Operational Snapshot

UNITED STATES

Direct Relief delivered 302 shipments containing 179,948 doses of medication during the past seven days to organizations, including the following:

AROUND THE WORLD

Globally, Direct Relief shipped over 6.5M defined daily doses of medication totaling 66,227 lbs., to countries including the following:

YEAR TO DATE

Since January 1, 2024, Direct Relief has delivered 17K shipments to 2,125 partner organizations in 54 US states and territories and 85 countries. These shipments contained 316.0M defined daily doses of medication valued at $1.0B (wholesale) and totaled 3.8M lbs.  

In the News

• iHeartRadio Hosts Direct Relief
• Native Health Phoenix “Native Talk Arizona” Features Direct Relief
• The Best Natural Disaster Response is to be Prepared – Newsday

The post Medical Support Departs for 15 Countries, U.S. Safety Net Facilities Get a Resilient Power Boost appeared first on Direct Relief.

These shipments contained 18 million defined daily doses of medication and supplies, including midwife kits, dengue support, hurricane preparedness packs, and more.

Emergency Medical Packs Bolster Guatemalan Fire Preparedness

The Guatemalan Forest Fire Response Brigade BRIF/GUA received a donation of emergency medical backpacks from Direct Relief recently. The backpacks will bolster preparedness for future wildfire events, helping first responders provide emergency medical care.

Unrest In Tila, Mexico Creates Urgent Need

Armed groups burned homes and vehicles and displaced thousands in Tila, a town in Chiapas, Mexico, on June 8, 2024, and more than half the town’s 10,000 residents were forced to leave their homes. The violence, which stems from a broader conflict over territorial control, created even more urgent needs in Tila, where 98% of the residents were already experiencing poverty.

While some displaced people have returned home, the situation remains unstable, with ongoing violence and insecurity.

Nonprofit organization ChildFund contacted Direct Relief for assistance with medical supplies, as shelters and communities lacked essential items. In response, Direct Relief provided over-the-counter medications, vitamins, hygiene products, and other necessities. Direct Relief remains committed to assisting its partners and the affected populations during this crisis.

Strengthening Resiliency After Hurricane Beryl

Direct Relief has mobilized over $2.2 million in emergency medical aid for Grenada, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Jamaica. This aid includes cots, emergency medical backpacks, essential medicines and supplies, hurricane preparedness packs, hygiene kits, and shelter supplies. Additionally, Direct Relief has allocated $500,000 from the Caribbean Resilience Fund to support relief and recovery efforts in Grenada and SVG.

In Texas, Direct Relief has bolstered support to healthcare providers serving communities impacted by Hurricane Beryl, delivering over $257,300 in medical aid to 14 community health centers, clinics, and charitable pharmacies. Direct Relief also continues to offer its medical inventory to health facility partners through its ongoing Safety Net Support program.

Direct Relief’s initiatives in the Caribbean and Texas aim to strengthen the medical supply chain’s resiliency and ensure continued access to essential medicines. In the coming days and weeks, Direct Relief is prioritizing additional support in four key areas: cold chain storage, dengue prevention and treatment, distribution of personal care kits, and emergency and backup power.

YOUTH VOLUNTEERS Gather AT DIRECT RELIEF

Volunteers assemble 7,000 person care kits at Direct Relief’s Santa Barbara warehouse on July 22, 2024. The kits will be sent to those impacted by Hurricane Beryl and the 2023 Maui wildfire.  The kits contain items, including shampoo, toothpaste, soap, and other essentials.

Operational Snapshot

WORLDWIDE

Over the last week, Direct Relief shipped more than 13.7 million defined daily doses of medication to countries outside the U.S. that include the following:

UNITED STATES

Direct Relief delivered 748 shipments containing 1.4 million doses of medication during the past seven days to organizations, including the following:

YEAR TO DATE

Since January 1, 2024, Direct Relief has delivered 14,300 shipments to 2,027 partner organizations in 54 US states and territories and 81 countries.

These shipments contained 259.8 million defined daily doses of medication valued at $871.0 million (wholesale) and totaled 3.4 million pounds.

In THE NEWS

• As Doctors Leave Puerto Rico In Droves, A Rapper Tries To Fill The Gaps – Associated Press
• Beyond the Backpack: Direct Relief and FedEx Revolutionize Disaster Relief – Yahoo Finance
• The Use of Technology on the Supply Chain: An Interview with Gordon Willcock – LogiPharma Asia

The post Emergency Support Reaches First Responders, Communities Impacted by Extreme Weather appeared first on Direct Relief.

To overcome these and other barriers, safety net providers across the U.S. are thinking outside the box. In some cases, they’re thinking outside the physical walls entirely. During a recent event at Direct Relief headquarters, several of these innovative clinics, each funded by Teva, had an opportunity to share insights and learn from one another. 

On May 20 and 21, Direct Relief, Teva, and the National Association of Free and Charitable Clinics hosted the Community Routes: Access to Mental Health Care Learning Summit. 

Teva has funded 11 clinics aimed at advancing health equity by increasing access to care for uninsured patients suffering from depression and anxiety in California, Florida, and New Jersey. This learning summit celebrated the extraordinary and often groundbreaking work of these clinics and their staff. 

The event consisted of panel discussions and workshops, where executives, therapists, program operators, and other clinic staff members explored effective strategies for treating their communities.

Topics for discussion included cultural and language barriers, mobile mental health services, approaches to screening, catering to specific demographics, and community outreach. 

Eryn Shugert, Executive Director at Savie Health in Lompoc, California, discussed a clinic program focused on immigrant women who are coping with the trauma of losing a loved one back home. 

For patients experiencing homelessness, Talbot House Ministries in Lakeland, Florida takes a holistic approach to mental health, said Maria Cruz, the clinic’s Executive Director. 

Teaching mental health concepts and tools to community members, so they can teach their friends and neighbors in turn, has been an indispensable tool for the University of Florida Mobile Outreach in Gainesville, Florida, said Dr. Carol Lewis, a clinical psychologist. 

Community Routes: Access to Mental Health Care was awarded the 2023 Global Generics and Biosimilars Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Initiative of the Year. 

Clinics at the summit included:

Florida

• University of Florida Mobile Outreach in Gainesville, Florida 
• Grace Medical Home in Orlando, Florida 
• Talbot House Ministries of Lakeland, Inc., in Lakeland, Florida  

New Jersey

• Cape Volunteers in Medicine in Cape May Court House, New Jersey  
• Bergen Volunteer Medical Initiative, Inc., in Hackensack, New Jersey  
• Parker Family Health Center in Red Bank, New Jersey  

California

• Samaritan House in San Mateo, California – Samaritan House in San Mateo, California  
• Symba Center in Apple Valley, California 
• Westminster Free Clinic in Thousand Oaks, California 
• Lestonnac Free Clinic in Orange, California  
• Savie Health in Lompoc, California  

The post On Improving Mental Health, Clinic Staff Have Wisdom to Share  appeared first on Direct Relief.