Grant Helps Treat Over 24,000 Patients in Flooded Pakistan 

December 12, 2011 

Direct Relief’s  emergency grant to Murshid Hospital and Health Care Centre in Pakistan funded the purchase of $25,000 in medicines and medical supplies to treat an estimated 24,100 people  affected by the severe flooding this year.  Haamid Jaffer, director of Murshid Hospital and Health Care Centres, wrote in an email, “The affected areas have not been helped to the extent [that] the need still exists.  [The] grant is timely and will go a long way to meet the healthcare needs of the flood affectees.”

Murshid Hospital and affiliates are supporting families and individuals who have been evacuated and relocated along the roads in camps.  They are largely very poor and deprived of all possessions.  Murshid Hospital is focused on preventing the spread of waterborne disease in flooded areas of Lower Sindh, where  homes and infrastructure, including health care facilities, were washed away or submerged under water.  Women and children are among the most vulnerable.

Murshid reports that the procured medicines and supplies will be used for prenatal care and common health issues, including diarrhea, malaria, respiratory infections, and skin infections.  Medicines purchased to treat these and other issues include amoxicillin, doxicycline, cephalosporin, scabene lotion, paracetamol, and anti-malarials.

Murshid Hospital has been able to leverage Direct Relief’s grant to secure matching funds from long-time collaborator Janum Network (JN).

Direct Relief has been supporting Murshid Hospital in emergency and non-emergency situations since the severe earthquake in October 2005.

Abbott Donates Aid for Flood Affected in Pakistan

November 1, 2011 

To expedite aid for people affected by flooding in Pakistan, longtime Direct Relief supporter Abbott is donating critically needed nutritional products directly from its facilities in Pakistan. Abbott products Pedialyte and Ensure are being delivered direct to Direct Relief’s partner, Murshid Hospital, in Karachi, which is caring for flood-affected populations.

The urgent consignment will provide 1,000 bottles of Pedialyte oral rehydration solution for children and 300 cans of Ensure nutritional product to help sustain people who are malnourished and displaced from their homes. Flooding in Pakistan has destroyed food supplies and increased the threat of waterborne diseases, including those that cause diarrhea. Such conditions can lead to dehydration, which can quickly become fatal in children.

A signature supporter of Direct Relief’s emergency response efforts (in additional to other programs), Abbott responded generously to needs during floods in Pakistan last year as well. Abbott has consistently collaborated in innovative ways with Direct Relief to deliver urgently needed aid.

Direct Relief Delivering More Than $3.4 Million in Aid to Pakistan

October 20, 2011

Direct Relief International is airlifting five pallets of urgently needed medical aid to Pakistan to assist people affected by flooding there. The consignment, sent via Pakistan Air, contains a range of requested materials including pharmaceuticals, lactated Ringer’s solution for intravenous administration of medicines, multivitamins, gloves, stethoscopes, blood pressure cuffs, syringes, and needles, valued at more than $3.4 million (wholesale).

Murshid Hospital and Health Care Center in Karachi is receiving the shipment; the hospital is managing a large-scale response to the needs of people affected by flooding, including those suffering from waterborne diseases. During flood situations, respiratory and skin infections pose a threat to health, as well as diarrheal diseases that can become fatal if a patient becomes severely dehydrated.

This airlift will boost capacity of the hospital to treat patients in need. Murshid Hospital has been a longtime partner of Direct Relief, and played an integral role in the flood response last year.

Direct Relief’s emergency response team continues to monitor the situation and is sourcing additional aid to meet requests for aid.

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Direct Relief Providing Critically Needed Medical Aid to Pakistan

October 14, 2011

Direct Relief International is providing urgently needed medical aid for people affected by widespread flooding in Pakistan. Murshid Hospital, a longtime partner in Karachi, has specifically requested aid to treat patients with flood-related medical conditions. To speed the delivery of needed medicines, Direct Relief is providing an immediate cash grant of $25,000 for the hospital to procure items in-country.

Sourcing materials from its standing inventory, Direct Relief is assembling a large consignment of requested items to be air-lifted early next week. The most critically needed items include intravenous antibiotics, intravenous pain relievers, intravenous solutions, anti-inflammatories, and medications to treat hypertension and diabetes.

Direct Relief's emergency response team has reached out to additional partners in the region to offer assistance. The organization has extensive experience responding to events in Pakistan, including floods in 2010 that displaced more than 20 million people and the 2005 earthquake that caused unprecedented traumatic injuries.