×

News publications and other organizations are encouraged to reuse Direct Relief-published content for free under a Creative Commons License (Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International), given the republisher complies with the requirements identified below.

When republishing:

  • Include a byline with the reporter’s name and Direct Relief in the following format: "Author Name, Direct Relief." If attribution in that format is not possible, include the following language at the top of the story: "This story was originally published by Direct Relief."
  • If publishing online, please link to the original URL of the story.
  • Maintain any tagline at the bottom of the story.
  • With Direct Relief's permission, news publications can make changes such as localizing the content for a particular area, using a different headline, or shortening story text. To confirm edits are acceptable, please check with Direct Relief by clicking this link.
  • If new content is added to the original story — for example, a comment from a local official — a note with language to the effect of the following must be included: "Additional reporting by [reporter and organization]."
  • If republished stories are shared on social media, Direct Relief appreciates being tagged in the posts:
    • Twitter (@DirectRelief)
    • Facebook (@DirectRelief)
    • Instagram (@DirectRelief)

Republishing Images:

Unless stated otherwise, images shot by Direct Relief may be republished for non-commercial purposes with proper attribution, given the republisher complies with the requirements identified below.

  • Maintain correct caption information.
  • Credit the photographer and Direct Relief in the caption. For example: "First and Last Name / Direct Relief."
  • Do not digitally alter images.

Direct Relief often contracts with freelance photographers who usually, but not always, allow their work to be published by Direct Relief’s media partners. Contact Direct Relief for permission to use images in which Direct Relief is not credited in the caption by clicking here.

Other Requirements:

  • Do not state or imply that donations to any third-party organization support Direct Relief's work.
  • Republishers may not sell Direct Relief's content.
  • Direct Relief's work is prohibited from populating web pages designed to improve rankings on search engines or solely to gain revenue from network-based advertisements.
  • Advance permission is required to translate Direct Relief's stories into a language different from the original language of publication. To inquire, contact us here.
  • If Direct Relief requests a change to or removal of republished Direct Relief content from a site or on-air, the republisher must comply.

For any additional questions about republishing Direct Relief content, please email the team here.

Insulin Reaches Syrian Children with Diabetes

Direct Relief and the International Diabetes Federation partnered with the Syrian American Medical Society to deliver approximately 15,500 vials of insulin to young patients.

News

Syrian Refugee Crisis

A shipment of critical insulin for the Syrian American Medical Society is staged for pickup in temperature-controlled packaging at Direct Relief’s warehouse in California on April 17, 2018. (Martin Calderon/Direct Relief)
By Kelsey Grodzovsky

As the global disease burden continues to shift from communicable to non-communicable diseases, type 1 and type 2 diabetes have emerged as major contributors to death and disability worldwide, directly causing an estimated 1.6 million deaths per year.

Syria is no exception.

As the country’s 7-year conflict wages on and trauma-related injuries and deaths continue to mount, Syrians also are experiencing this epidemiological transition towards chronic disease.

One in 10 Syrians lives with diabetes, according to the World Health Organization, and diabetes now ranks among the top 10 causes of death and disability in the country.

Since the war began, many health centers specializing in diabetes treatment – and all insulin production centers – have been shut down, damaged or destroyed, creating acute shortages of this life-saving medication. Almost all insulin must now be imported, resulting in inflated prices and affordability issues for most diabetes patients, especially those who have been internally displaced.

To address insulin shortages in Syria, Direct Relief and the International Diabetes Federation’s Life for a Child program partnered with the Syrian American Medical Society to deliver approximately 15,500 vials insulin to more than 700 Syrians under the age of 26 with type 1 and 2 diabetes.

The delivery was made possible by a generous donation from Eli Lilly and comes as fighting throughout Syria has displaced thousands, many with co-morbid chronic diseases, into the northwestern directorates of Idleb and Hama.

A staff pharmacist from the Syrian American Medical Society holds a case of insulin donated by Direct Relief and Life for a Child inside SAMS’ cold storage facility inside Syria on April 25, 2018. (Photo courtesy of the Syrian American Medical Society)
A staff pharmacist from the Syrian American Medical Society holds a case of insulin donated by Direct Relief and Life for a Child inside SAMS’ cold storage facility inside Syria on April 25, 2018. (Photo courtesy of the Syrian American Medical Society)

For aid groups distributing insulin for free or at steeply reduced prices, logistical hurdles to importing and storing the medication must be overcome. These include keeping the medicine at a consistent temperature despite lengthy travel times and unreliable electricity.

Direct Relief ships temperature-sensitive medicines like insulin inside specialized packaging that maintains a constant temperature range between 35.6-46.4 degrees Fahrenheit for 120 hours. To ensure and verify that the cold-supply chain has been maintained throughout the transit process, temperature-data loggers are inserted into each package to record the internal temperature of the shipment every two minutes.

The latest shipment of insulin to Syria is part of a larger collaboration with the Life for a Child program, which aims to provide insulin, syringes, blood glucose monitoring equipment, test strips, HbA1c testing, and diabetes education to healthcare centers in 42 low and middle-income countries for the benefit of 18,000 children and young adults living with diabetes.

Since the start of the crisis in 2011, Direct Relief has delivered over 200 tons of medical aid valued at $100 million to approximately 30 healthcare organizations providing critical care to Syrians across eight countries – constituting one of the largest and longest-sustained emergency response efforts in Direct Relief’s 70-year history.

Filed Under: , , , , ,

Giving is Good Medicine

You don't have to donate. That's why it's so extraordinary if you do.