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Operational Update: Medical Aid Continuously Arriving in Ukraine

A shipment of insulin weighing more than 1 ton arrives in Ukraine, along with other life-saving medicines to support patients enduring the conflict.

News

Ukraine Relief

Medical aid arrives in northeastern Ukraine this week. The pictured shipment was part of a donated 777 charter that transported 76 tons of medicines and supplies to the country, and those shipments have reached their destinations, supporting health services as the conflict continues. (Courtesy photo)

Over the past seven days, Direct Relief delivered 334 shipments of requested medical aid to 36 U.S. states and territories and 11 countries worldwide, including Ukraine.

The shipments contained 2.3 million defined daily doses of medication, including PPE, Covid-19 therapies, diabetes medication, and cancer treatments.

Today, four pallets of insulin, weighing more than one ton, arrived in Ukraine, and the 2,400-pound shipment was delivered to Ukraine’s Ministry of Health, which will use the life-saving medicines to support people living with diabetes in the country.

Insulin from Direct Relief is shipped in special cold-chain shippers with monitoring devices inside, ensuring that the medications remain within a stable temperature range throughout the journey. The need for insulin in the country has reached critical levels, and Direct Relief is coordinating a regional response with the International Diabetes Federation, Ukrainian Diabetes Federation, Ukrainian Ministry of Health, Life for a Child, and the World Health Organization’s non-communicable diseases working group.

2,400 pounds of insulin arrived on April 1 in Ukraine to support people managing diabetes. The four-pallet shipment was delivered to Ukraine’s Ministry of Health and will be distributed across the country to support health services. (Courtesy photo)

Ukraine Response to Date

Since February 24, Direct Relief has provided medical aid nearing 200 tons in weight, with more on the way.

All items were provided at the request of, and approved by, Ukraine’s Ministry of Health. Direct Relief’s medical donations have been mobilized from inventories within Ukraine, the organization’s distribution center in the Netherlands, and from emergency airlifts from the United States.

The aid requested by Ukraine and provided by Direct Relief includes a wide range of medicine, equipment and supplies, from field medic packs used by first responders providing triage care to oxygen concentrators to critical care medicines used in an ICU setting. Diabetes and hypertension medications, oncology drugs, diabetes supplies, and other urgently needed medications have also been delivered. This week a 76-ton charter departed for Ukraine, containing a 50-bed field hospital donated by the State of California, oxygen concentrations antibiotics, chronic disease medications, and more.

76 tons of Direct Relief-donated medical aid via FedEx 777 charter plane lands in Warsaw Poland on March 27, 2022. The aid was transported and distributed throughout Ukraine this week. (Photo courtesy of FedEx)

Direct Relief is in contact with Ministries of Health throughout the region to assess needs and is sharing information with the U.N., the European Commission, and the World Bank to coordinate relief efforts.

Response timeline

As the conflict enters its sixth week, Direct Relief’s response has included continuous infusions of medical support.

DELIVERED TO UKRAINE

March 4: 20 pallets of emergency response packs are delivered to the Ministry of Health of Ukraine. The packs contain trauma and first aid supplies including bandages, tourniquets, gauze, essential drugs, and personal safety gear. 

March 9: 24 pallets of diabetes, cardiovascular, respiratory, and oncology medications are delivered to the Ministry of Health of Ukraine from within Ukraine. 

March 9: 13 pallets of emergency medical supplies including emergency response packs, oxygen concentrators, an Emergency Health kit, family hygiene kits, and inhalers delivered to Ukraine-based NGO Charity Fund Modern Town & Village in Ukraine. 

March 23: 22 pallets containing emergency medical supplies delivered to a northeastern city in Ukraine (location withheld for safety).

March 25: 41 pallets containing 702 10-liter oxygen concentrators to support Covid-19 and other emergency hospital care items.

March 26: 67 pallets of wound care, antibiotics, chronic disease medications, PPE, and maternal and child health supplies for Ukraine’s Ministry of Health

52 pallets of IV antibiotics, diabetes medications, and medications for hypothyroidism have been picked up from Direct Relief’s distribution center in the Netherlands and delivered to the Ministry of Health.

March 27: A FedEx 777 humanitarian charter containing approximately 153,000 pounds of medical aid, including emergency medicines and supplies, trauma and wound care medications, chronic disease medications, and more arrived in the region for delivery to Ukraine’s Ministry of Health, and organizations supporting health care throughout the country.

March 27: 5 pallets of emergency medical supplies from the Netherlands distribution center were delivered to Charity Fund Modern Village and Town.

March 31: 2 pallets of an Emergency Health Kit were delivered to a Kyiv-area hospital providing charitable care, including trauma care.

April 1: 4 pallets of insulin products arrived today at the Ukrainian Ministry of Health warehouse.

IN TRANSIT

Expected to deliver this weekend: 1 pallet of insulin products from the Netherlands distribution center is expected to be delivered to Ukraine to Charity Fund Modern Village and Town.

6 pallets of 100 10L oxygen concentrators are headed to Charity Fund Modern Village and Town.

Week of April 4th: 1 pallet of insulin products from the Netherlands distribution center is expected to be delivered to Ukraine by the end of the week to a Kyiv-area hospital providing charitable care, including trauma care.

1 pallet of insulin products from the Netherlands distribution center is expected to be delivered to Ukraine by the end of the week to a northeastern city in Ukraine (location withheld for safety)

20 pallets of emergency medical supplies for Association Internationale de Cooperation Medicale are expected to arrive in Ukraine by the end of the week.

Ukraine Relief

Direct Relief is deploying emergency medical aid, from oxygen concentrators to critical care medicines – while preparing longer-term assistance to people in Ukraine displaced or affected by the war.

In the News

WORLDWIDE

This week, outside the U.S., Direct Relief shipped more than 1.3 million defined daily doses of medication.

Countries that received medical aid over the past week included:

  • Ukraine
  • Moldova
  • Pakistan
  • Bolivia
  • Paraguay
  • Democratic Republic of Congo
  • Panama
  • Lebanon
  • Sierra Leone
  • Palestinian Territories

UNITED STATES

Direct Relief delivered 312 shipments containing 1 million doses of medications over the past week to organizations, including the following:

  • Clinica Esperanza, Rhode Island
  • St. Vincent de Paul Clinic, Arizona
  • Good News Care Center, Florida
  • Morgan County Medical Center, Tennessee
  • CCI – Gaithersburg, Maryland
  • Free Medical Clinic of the Ozarks, Missouri
  • El Proyecto del Barrio, California
  • Volunteers in Medicine Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
  • EXCELth Primary Health Care, Louisiana

YEAR TO DATE

Since January 1, 2022, Direct Relief has delivered 4,687 shipments to 1,278 healthcare organizations in 51 U.S. states and territories and 62 countries.

These shipments contained 93.1 million defined daily doses of medication valued at $438.8 million (wholesale) and weighing 6.1 million lbs.

Giving is Good Medicine

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