Washington, D.C. – September 23, 2014: Direct Relief, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization based in the United States, on September 20, 2014, airlifted 100 tons of emergency medical aid for communities fighting Ebola in Liberia and Sierra Leone.
The private-charter 747 airlift which arrived in Sierra Leone and Liberia the following day, contained 2.8 million surgical and exam gloves, 170,000 overall gowns, 120,000 masks, 40,000 liters of pre-mixed oral rehydration solution, and 9.8 million defined daily doses of the essential medications.
The medical supplies will support the efforts of local nonprofits that include the Medical Research Centre and Wellbody Alliance in Sierra Leone, and Africare and Last Mile Health in Liberia.
The Clinton Health Access Initiative will also assist in the national distribution of the supplies, valued at nearly US $6 million.
At the J.F. K. International Airport in New York to see the special flight off to Sierra Leone and Liberia were Liberia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, H.E. Augustine K. Ngafuan; Liberia’s Ambassador to the United States, H.E. Jeremiah Sulunteh; Sierra Leone’s Ambassador to the U.S., H.E. Bockari Stevens; and the CEO of Direct Relief, Mr. Thomas Tighe; among others.
Minister Ngafuan in remarks before Direct Relief staff, representatives from Sierra Leone and reporters, thanked Direct Relief and the Clinton Global Health Initiative and said, “If we can save the life of one health worker…imagine the amount of lives that will be saved.”
Direct Relief is a charitable organization that provides medical assistance to people around the world who have been affected by poverty, natural disasters, and civil unrest.
Send by email
PDF version