Eighty tons of medical aid has been staged for a charter flight to Turkey next week, the latest infusion of support for the region recovering from last month’s catastrophic earthquakes.
On Tuesday, Sinan Kuzum, Turkey’s Consul-General in Los Angeles, visited Direct Relief’s Santa Barbara, California, warehouse before the shipment departed. Kuzum received a tour of Direct Relief’s warehouse and met with staff for a briefing on the organization’s earthquake response.
The shipment will depart from Los Angeles next week before arriving in Istanbul and contains antibiotics, respiratory medications, anti-seizure therapies, vitamins for children and adults, personal protective equipment, hygiene items, and more. Turkey’s Ministry of Health specifically requested all items.
Earlier this week, a charter flight with 75 tons of medical aid for Syria touched down in Turkey. The aid will be trucked across the Syrian border via U.N. convoy and distributed to groups providing health services in northwestern Syria.
The Syrian American Medical Society, the Independent Doctors’ Association, and Syria Relief and Development will receive aid as part of the delivery.
In the weeks since the initial quake, Direct Relief has disbursed $2.66 million in immediate emergency grant funding to enable and sustain the emergency response operations of seven local healthcare and search and rescue groups working across Turkey and northwestern Syria.
This post was originally published on Direct Relief.