Hospira and AmeriCares Help Survivors of Cyclone Nargis

On May 2, 2008 Cyclone Nargis struck the Irrawaddy Delta and south Yangon regions of Myanmar, bringing torrential rain and winds of up to 120 mph. As it stretched 25 miles inland, the storm surge ravaged 95% of homes in its path. In addition to an estimated 130,000 dead or missing, the devastating cyclone affected 2.4 million people in the delta. Survivors required immediate relief including food, water, shelter and health services.

 

The cyclone disproportionately affected impoverished rural communities. Its saltwater floods ruined large swaths of farmland in Myanmar’s rice bowl, which will have long-term ramifications for food security, increasing the risk of malnutrition. Most rural health posts, which had served as the front lines of preventive and primary care for surrounding communities, were also destroyed by the storm. The scale of devastation wrought by Nargis rivals that of 2004’s Southeast Asian tsunami that impacted India, Sri Lanka and Indonesia.

 

AmeriCares prepared to help cyclone survivors immediately, drawing on its previous experience working under challenging government constraints in diplomatically isolated countries. The organization secured visas for two relief workers managing the response on the ground in Yangon, and one coordinator working in Bangkok, Thailand.

 

AmeriCares dispatched inventory in its Stamford warehouse, including Hospira’s Cefazolin and Ketorolac, to its facility in Amsterdam to supplement a pre-positioned health relief module. With this rapid consolidation of cargo, the airlift into Myanmar was ready for deployment as soon as flight clearance was received. The 15-ton airlift arrived safely in Yangon on May 18, carrying enough Hospira medicines to reduce suffering for as many as 650 survivors of Cyclone Nargis.

 

 The AmeriCares team in Yangon quickly identified critical resource gaps, particularly in the villages where government assistance and medical services fell short. Due to stringent logistics constraints on supply chains, partner organizations and their health workers had limited or no access to medicines and supplies they needed to treat survivors. To catalyze the rapid deployment of 30 mobile medical teams to remote communities, AmeriCares delivered emergency medical aid to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and three other partner organizations.

 

Small and agile, these three-person mobile medical teams—consisting of a Burmese doctor, nurse and assistant—were able to reach isolated cyclone survivors, some of whom have waited weeks for medical attention. Traveling by boat and 4-wheel-drive vehicle, they set up ad hoc clinics in monasteries and schools, which were often the only structures to survive in the storms. The medical teams typically spent one or two days in each village, seeing as many as 100 patients each day. While there they pledged not to leave until examining every person who had come for help. Hospira’s donation of Cefazolin and Ketorolac allowed for the treatment of pain and infections, which were exacerbated by environmental conditions in the wake of the cyclone.

With Hospira’s support, AmeriCares implemented a second round of assistance to help restore health services in the delta. AmeriCares equipped 10 emergency clinics with instruments, basic equipment and essential medicines. Run by IOM, the clinics replace rural health posts and continue to serve people still living in emergency shelters. Health care providers in Myanmar also requested additional anesthetics, anti-allergenics, anti-infectives, and rehydration solutions. Hospira donated 85 cases of the requested product which arrived in Myanmar on July 10. More than 65,000 courses of treatment donated by Hospira will help reduce suffering and restore health for tens of thousands of cyclone survivors.

 

	Course Treatments	Cases	Relief Effort
Cefazolin for injection	150	6	May 18 Airlift
Ketorolac Tromethamine for injection	500	10	May 18 Airlift
1% Lidocaine injections	52,250	41	Clinics
Epinephrine HCl injections	10,000	1	Clinics
Gentamicin Sulfate injections and solution	2,404	41	Clinics
Naloxone HCl injections	400	1	Clinics
Potassium Chloride solution	400	1	Clinics
Total	66,104	101