PAHO prepares aid shipment for Jamaica

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) says it has 5.5 tons of humanitarian aid supplies ready for shipment to Jamaica as soon as the country’s airports reopens following the passage of Hurricane Melissa.

The supplies are to be shipped from PAHO’s Regional Strategic Stockpile in Panama.

The shipment includes an interagency emergency health kit, containing life-saving medicines and medical supplies, and a non-communicable diseases kit, each sufficient for 10,000 people for three months; a trauma and emergency surgery kit for 50 patients; 50 medical backpacks; a hurricane response kit; field care tents; water storage tanks; 300 treated mosquito nets; and personal protective equipment (PPE) including surgical gowns, gloves, N95 masks, and face shields.

PAHO says it has also activated its Emergency Operations Center in Barbados to coordinate the regional response to Hurricane Melissa.

From this center, the damage to the health infrastructure in affected countries is being assessed, with the goal of supporting the restoration of essential health services and ensuring continuity of care for the most impacted communities.

PAHO says it will continue monitoring the situation in Cuba, Jamaica and the Caribbean in close collaboration with national governments, United Nations agencies, and humanitarian partners to ensure an effective response focused on the recovery of the health system and the protection of life and health of affected populations.

It says it has delivered more than 2.6 tons of essential medical supplies to Cuban health authorities to support the response in areas affected by Hurricane Melissa.

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