PQMD Members Responded to Events in U.S. and Around the World in 2018

 

PQMD members responded to events globally and locally in 2018. Their work provided access to healthcare and medicines for refugees, vulnerable populations, and those affected by disaster. Members worked together to improve patient outcomes and access to health by developing and utilizing new technologies and by providing access to healthcare to uninsured and vulnerable populations.

PQMD members continued to focus on Hurricane Maria recovery efforts in Puerto Rico in 2018.

The continued recovery from Hurricane Maria, especially in Puerto Rico, was a focus for many PQMD members in 2018. Members provided donations of medicines and cash to support mental and physical health facilities on the island. Member efforts also supported housing rebuilding efforts and alleviated medicine shortages, more than a year after the hurricane made landfall. Hurricanes Lane and Florence received member response and attention in mid-2018, with members again donating cash, medicines and necessary supplies to affected regions.

2018 was the deadliest and most destructive wildfire season in California. Shortly after PQMD held their Annual General Meeting in October in California, members directed efforts towards the devastating wildfires in the state, donating supplies and cash. PQMD members also responded to wildfires in California and other areas in the western United States in the summer of 2018.

Health workers treat a patient who is suspected of having contracted Ebola earlier this month in Butembo, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
John Wessels/AFP/Getty Images/npr.org

Globally, PQMD members responded to multiple events, including Guatemala’s devastating Fuego volcano, which affected nearly 2 million people and killed 194 people, and the tsunamis that struck Indonesia in both September and again in December of 2018. The resurgence of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2018, which has claimed at least 375 lives, prompted PQMD member response, complicated by armed conflict in the affected area.

Humanitarian crises were a global PQMD focus in 2018. PQMD members provided assistance to address the refugee crises in Bangladesh and South Sudan. The economic crisis in Venezuela increasingly became a humanitarian crisis in 2018, and PQMD members developed strategies to assist in the region. PQMD members also responded to ongoing crises in Syria and Yemen.

Throughout the year, PQMD members continued to partner to provide access to medicines, supplies and healthcare to those affected by disaster and vulnerable populations. In addition to supporting efforts with funding and supplies, members established clinics to reach uninsured populations in America and provided healthcare access to those displaced by hurricanes and wildfires. Members also worked together to establish new surgical techniques and tools and developed innovative technologies, including telehealth methods and mobile technologies, to improve access to healthcare around the world.

In total, PQMD members are estimated to have contributed over $103,500,000 in cash and in-kind donations to global health and disaster response in 2018. To learn more about PQMD member efforts in 2018 and current response efforts, visit www.pqmd.org.

 

 

 

 

 

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