Individuals received direct medical services by our medical mobile team in Comunidad Indigena La Piedrita (La Felicidad), Venezuela.

Snapshots October

From Turkey to Puerto Rico, see how you’ve helped people this month as a supporter of our work.

We Are Responding to Emergencies in Turkey and the Philippines

On October 30, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck 8 miles northeast of the Greek island of Samos, mainly affecting the western province and city of İzmir, Turkey. The earthquake has caused severe damage to homes and health facilities. As survivors have gathered in emergency shelters, there is an urgent need for personal protective equipment (PPE) to protect from COVID-19.

On November 1, Super Typhoon Goni made landfall on Catanduanes Island, in the Philippines. With 10-minute sustained winds of 140 mph and maximum sustained winds that reached 195 mph, it was the strongest storm of the year and the strongest since Typhoon Haiyan in 2013. About 2 million people were in the path of Typhoon Goni — communities struggling to recover from two other typhoons and experiencing one of the region’s worst COVID-19 outbreaks. We’re assessing needs and will respond where needed.

We Are Continuing to Fight COVID-19 Around the World

Around the world, we’re continuing to help people in need as we adapt our healthcare and training programs to the demands of COVID-19.

Responding in the United States

The San Cristobal Hospital in Puerto Rico serves the southeast and south-central regions of Puerto Rico. Like many hospitals across the world, San Cristobal saw unprecedented demand in the face of COVID-19, draining resources and creating a need for specialized equipment to treat people suffering from the coronavirus. In response, we’re supporting San Cristobal Hospital with emergency medical field units, PPE, medical equipment and supplies.

In addition, we provided emergency medical field units, PPE, medical equipment and supplies to hospitals in Texas, and PPE to health agencies in South Carolina and Alabama, and we continue to support long-term care facilities throughout Los Angeles County by providing PPE and training on infection prevention and control measures.

Highlights of Our Global Response

We’re fighting COVID-19 in all the countries in which we operate while continuing to provide a wide range of humanitarian services.

In Lebanon, we continue to support local health facilities with PPE, medical equipment and supplies, as COVID-19 cases rise. So far, we have distributed more than 160,000 masks, 300,000 pairs of gloves and 16,000 surgical gowns.

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, our team has reached more than 84,500 people with important messages about COVID-19 prevention.

We’ve also partnered with schools in the country’s North and South Kivu provinces to raise awareness about and teach prevention tips on COVID-19.

Children wearing masks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Children wearing masks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

In Cameroon, we’ve reached more than 140,000 people with COVID-19 prevention messaging, screened more than 7,200 patients for the virus and distributed more than 38,000 hygiene and PPE items to health workers.

We Celebrated World Mental Health Day

Throughout our history, we’ve been a leader in addressing mental health care in the midst of disaster and humanitarian crisis. Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, our teams have found ways to continue to deliver mental health services—check out this virtual journey around the world to learn more about our mental health programs.

We Are Providing Lifesaving Support in Afghanistan

We’ve provided three health facilities in the Kunar province of Afghanistan with new medical equipment, including ultrasound machines and cardiac monitors, that will help provide a range of healthcare to people in need.

The Deputy Provincial Public Health Director further remarked that the new equipment “will help the health facilities to treat patients without referral to the main hospital of Kunar province,” and thanked everyone involved for their commitment to “alleviate the suffering of people.”

Our First-Ever Virtual Annual Awards Celebration Was a Huge Success!

Our Annual Awards Celebration went virtual this year! We honored the courage and commitment of our dedicated International Medical Corps health heroes, who continue to provide a wide range of lifesaving medical services and training every single day despite the global COVID-19 pandemic. The event even included a special thank-you and exclusive musical performance from three-time Grammy winner Ben Harper!

To each of you who joined us for our first-ever virtual Annual Awards Celebration — THANK YOU! Your encouragement and continuing support keep us going in the toughest of times — and always prepared for whatever comes next. If you weren’t able to join, you can take a look back here.

We Are Now Accepting Alexa Donations!

We are now accepting Alexa Donations with Amazon Pay! Now, giving as easy as talking. Just say, “Alexa, make a donation to International Medical Corps.” It’s simple, fast and secure. Give it a try!

 

Help us save lives.