HHS sends medical supplies, personnel to Haiti

Ocotber 3, 2004

Gonaives, Haiti – Secretary Tommy G. Thompson announced today that the Department of Health and Human Services is sending $235,000 in drugs and medical supplies to resupply the public health hospital in Gonaives in the wake of Hurricane Jeanne.

After touring Gonaives to see the devastation firsthand, Secretary Thompson met with government health officials and announced he is dispatching a medical team to Haiti to make recommendations to HHS on how the United States can best to respond to the public health crisis in the short and long term. That could include medical personnel and further medical supplies.

“President Bush is committed to helping a neighbor in need in the wake of Hurricane Jeanne,” Secretary Thompson said. “These drugs and medical supplies are badly needed in a devastated region of Haiti, and we are assessing how to best support Haitian doctors and nurses as they work to provide the best care possible in extremely difficult circumstances.”

HHS is sending high-priority drugs and medical equipment to Haiti, including antibiotics, syringes, gloves, surgical masks, tourniquets, saline, bandages and other basic medical supplies. HHS also is providing equipment to test water quality, as well as assessing Haiti's needs for additional drugs and laboratory equipment and supplies.

The equipment arrived in Port-au-Prince on Friday and will be delivered to the public health hospital in Gonaives as soon as it is properly equipped to accept the supplies and provide medical care.

The hurricane left an estimated 200,000 people homeless by the hurricane and subsequent floods in Gonaives, creating a public health emergency caused by standing water, unsanitary conditions and a lack of access to medical care.

“We are eager to help the medical community provide medical care to Haitians affected by Hurricane Jeanne,” Secretary Thompson said. “By controlling any outbreak of disease in Haiti, we will be saving lives not only in Haiti – but also in Haiti's neighbors, including the United States, in an age when diseases know no borders.”