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Sixteen Tons of Medical Aid Arrives Via Charter Flight for Hurricane Melissa-Devastated Jamaica
A chartered Boeing 757 carrying medicines and supplies requested by Jamaica’s Ministry of Health and Wellness arrived today in the country to support hospitals and clinics, post-storm.
Sixteen tons of medical aid from Direct Relief arrived by 757 charter in Kingston, Jamaica, on Nov. 8, 2025. The shipments contain essential medicines and supplies requested by Jamaica's Ministry of Health and Wellness after Hurricane Melissa. (Photos by Patrick Jackson)
KINGSTON, JAMAICA – A Direct Relief-chartered Boeing 757 flight packed with more than 16 tons of requested medical aid touched down today in Jamaica to support health services in the country following Hurricane Melissa.
The 757 carried more than $1 million worth of medicines and supplies — including antibiotics, diabetes medicines, first aid items, and water purification tablets — and was organized in consultation with the Jamaican Minister of Health and tailored to the country’s specific requests.
The medical aid will backstop the country’s health system as it continues to recover from Hurricane Melissa, the Category 5 storm that made landfall in Jamaica near the town of Black River on Oct. 28 before moving across Cuba and the Bahamas.
The storm left a path of widespread devastation across the Caribbean, causing catastrophic flooding, extensive damage to homes and health facilities, and displacing hundreds of thousands of people.
In Jamaica, the storm severely damaged hospitals and clinics — including Black River Hospital and multiple primary health centers across Saint Elizabeth and Saint James parishes — disrupting care for patients and leaving many facilities without power, water, or essential supplies.
Jamaica’s Ministry of Health and Wellness is working to restore services and mobilize community health centers to handle outpatient care and triage cases while hospitals focus on emergencies.
Sixteen tons of medical aid from Direct Relief are loaded onto a 757 charter in Miami bound for Jamaica.
Direct Relief staff were in Kingston today to receive the flight, which carried a gross payload of 32,514 pounds of medical aid. In addition to medical items, the airlift includes thousands of 30% DEET insect repellent towelettes and repellent spray bottles requested by the MOH. Public health officials in both Jamaica and the Dominican Republic fear an increase in mosquito populations and mosquito-borne illness due to the precipitation and standing water left by the hurricane.
Direct Relief’s Ongoing Hurricane Melissa Response
Saturday’s charter flight is the latest in Direct Relief’s response to Hurricane Melissa, and builds on years of partnership and investment with ministries of health and healthcare providers across the Caribbean.
Direct Relief is working in close coordination with the Jamaica’s Ministry of Health and Wellness, the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management, PAHO, and other response agencies across the Caribbean to restore essential health services and meet urgent medical resource needs.
Because of these long-term relationships, essential medicines and supplies were already on the ground and immediately available to support Jamaica’s health system when the storm struck.
How Direct Relief Is Supporting Jamaica
Direct Relief’s emergency team on the ground in Jamaica, assessing damage and delivering critical medical aid in Catherine Hall, one of the areas hardest hit by Hurricane Melissa in Montego Bay. (Photos by Manuel Velez for Direct Relief)
In the month before landfall, Direct Relief shipped more than $100,000 in medicines to Jamaica — inventories that were already positioned for immediate use once the storm hit.
Within days of landfall, Direct Relief delivered emergency medical supplies to support first responders, health workers, and displaced residents. Direct Relief also awarded the JAHJAH Foundation a $50,000 emergency grant to provide food, hygiene products, safe drinking water, and temporary shelter through its network of local clinics and community centers.
The organization has deployed an emergency response team to Jamaica to assess health-system needs, coordinate logistics, and support the Ministry’s ongoing recovery operations.
Regional Assistance in Cuba and Haiti
Direct Relief and JAHJAH Foundation staff move from home to home in Catherine Hall, Jamaica, in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa. (Direct Relief photo)
Direct Relief continues to mobilize large-scale infusions of requested emergency medical aid to affected countries throughout the Caribbean, including Jamaica, Cuba, and Haiti, with additional assistance en route.
Across the region, damage to health systems in Cuba and Haiti has further strained access to care, with thousands of homes and health facilities affected. In Haiti, health workers are warning of renewed cholera risks following major flooding.
Through its partnership with PAHO, Direct Relief is mobilizing over $500,000 in medical aid for Cuba, including field medic packs and additional shipments staged in Panama ahead of hurricane season.
In Haiti, Direct Relief is preparing a shipment of essential medicines and supplies requested by long-term partner Hope for Haiti, which operates mobile clinics and a fixed facility in the hard-hit city of Les Cayes.
Each year, through its hurricane preparedness program, Direct Relief prepositions supplies across the region in large caches of medicines and emergency supplies, capable of supporting 3,000 patients for 30 days.
Hurricane preparedness packs including medications and supplies provided by Direct Relief are distributed in advance of hurricane season in Haiti by local NGO Hope for Haiti. These critical supplies are on the ground and are currently in use in response to Hurricane Melissa. (Photo courtesy of Hope for Haiti)
The organization supports more than 40 healthcare facilities, ministries of health, and nonprofit partners across the Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Jamaica with year-round shipments of requested medicines, medical supplies, and equipment.
Over the past five years, Direct Relief has delivered nearly $200 million in medical aid to support both emergency and chronic health needs in the Caribbean.
Through the Caribbean Resiliency Fund, Direct Relief has provided $12.6 million for infrastructure projects that strengthen power resilience, cold-chain storage, medical warehousing, and disaster response capacity in Jamaica and neighboring nations.
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