Partner Ship for Quality Medical Donations

$30,000 Committed to Assist Kampala Bombing Victims

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Press Release

 

Santa Barbara, CA, July 13, 2010—In response to the July 11 terrorist bombing in Kampala, Direct Relief International today made an initial cash grant of $30,000 cover emergency medical needs of victims.  The funds will be provided to AMREF’s (African Medical Research and Education Foundation) Uganda office, with which Direct Relief has long worked, in response to an urgent request from the Ministry of Health struggling to care for the mass-casualty situation caused by the bombings.

Direct Relief also is making its medical inventory available and seeking additional support from its network of healthcare company partners for specialized equipment needed for reconstructive surgeries and serious, complex injuries among survivors.  A specific needs list was developed by the Ministry of Health upon assessment of existing resources and survivors’ injuries.

Direct Relief has worked in partnership with AMREF since 1996 to bolster improved access to and quality of health services in East Africa. 

“We recognize that the larger development goals for health are often impeded by emergencies,” said Direct Relief CEO Thomas Tighe. “The people and facilities, including the AMREF team, now devoted to this crisis are the same people in facilities essential to the long-term efforts, and they need help.”

AMREF Country Director Joshua Kyallo, a member of the emergency panel of Ugandan and international nongovernmental organizations convened by the Minister of Health and Direct Relief’s International Medical Adviser, Dr. Mike Marks, are working together on a coordinated response plan from within Uganda, with regional partners, and with AMREF’s and Direct Relief’s international operations. “This support will enable us to move very quickly with the MOH on the emergency response,” AMREF’s Kyallo said.

According to news reports, 76 people were killed in bombings at restaurants and nightclubs on July 11 in Kampala, Uganda’s capital city. Visit Direct Relief's website to learn more.