Iraq

Greg Griffin

Iraqi woman stands beside her child’s hospital bed. According to the Centers for Disease Control, Cholera is easily treated and fewer than 1% of patients die if they receive prompt attention.

AmeriCares sent medicines and supplies to stem the Iraqi cholera outbreaks from the warehouse in Mumbai. With thousands of lives in jeopardy in 2008, we sent 3,200 bottles of IV solutions and nearly $600,000 worth of medicines and medical supplies to help control the outbreak and address other health concerns.

More than 300 people had already been diagnosed with cholera, and the World Health Organization estimated that the actual number of cases could be much higher.

Cholera facts:

• Left untreated, cholera can kill in hours or leave people debilitated for weeks
• 30,000 Iraqis were affected by cholera and related diseases in 2007
• 4,700 diagnosed cases of cholera in Iraq last fall
• Cholera is spread though polluted drinking water
• Cholera is most deadly for vulnerable populations, including children, the elderly and the infirm
• In 2007, AmeriCares shipped enough medicines to treat up to 6,000 patients

“Iraq has a skilled and dedicated medical community, but they often lack resources to treat patients,” said Randy Weiss, an AmeriCares Corporate Relations Manager who accompanied a previous airlift to Iraq. Hospital shelves are still in short supply of many needed medicines and medical supplies.”

Included in the latest humanitarian medical aid shipment were life-saving antibiotics, rehydration solutions and other items that help relieve suffering and speed recovery time. AmeriCares sent the critical medicines from its warehouse in Mumbai which enabled coordination and faster delivery to the region.