Hurricane Medical Relief in Cuba

Working in collaboration with the World Health Organization/ Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the Cuban Ministry of Health, Global Links sent six containers of urgently needed medical supplies, equipment and furnishings to assist hospitals in regions most impacted by the hurricanes. The last four containers were shipped within the final weeks of October and will conclude our hurricane relief efforts for the year.

These donations would not have been possible without the special funding Global Links received to support medical aid for Cuban healthcare facilities affected by the hurricanes. Four of the shipments were sponsored by the Department of Emergency Preparedness at PAHO in Washington, DC. The other shipments were sponsored by individual donors from across the United States, Canada, England and Australia and with funds earmarked for the Institute of Nephrology.

We would like to thank the following organizations for their help in raising awareness and funds for our efforts: US Cuba Sister Cities Association, Center for Democracy in the Americas and GlobalGiving.

We have raised over $21,000 to date from individual donors like you. In addition to allowing us to make additional shipments of materials, these generous donations allowed us to procure items such as new blood pressure units and new hospital grade mattresses.

The six shipments included: 54 hospital beds, 30 gurneys, over 100 chairs, IV poles and walkers, as well as other furnishings. In addition, we sent over 1,800 boxes of unused disposable medical supplies. Examples include: syringes, gauze, gloves, specialized surgical supplies, IV supplies and hospital linens. Specific items were chosen based on the needs indicated in a report on the damages and the strategic recovery plan communicated to us by PAHO and the Ministry of Health in Cuba.

Contributing to the quality of these shipments, Global Links also received many in-kind donations from various companies and institutions such as University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Jefferson Regional Medical Center, Quality Medical Relief, Riverside Medical Center (NJ), Standard Textile and GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare.

The combined monetary value of these six shipments is over $1.5 million.

We will continue our efforts to help the affected regions recover from the hurricanes. Global Links staff will be making an assessment trip to Cuba in the near future. We know the needs will be considerable. With your help, we hope to send another eight to ten shipments in 2009.