Northwest Medical Teams

reaches $1 billion mark

for aid sent

     TIGARD — Northwest Medical Teams reached its $1 billion dollar milestone in humanitarian aid sent when it dispatched a container to the Dominican Republic on Thursday, Jan. 11. The medical supplies, valued at $1 million, are slated to arrive in Caucedo, Dominican Republic on Feb. 7, where they will be distributed to 14 hospitals in the region.
     A celebration reception was held at the agency warehouse in Tigard that day.
     The supplies sent on Jan. 11 will cap a 20-year history of sending antibiotics, surgical kits, bandages and life-saving medicines to care for more than 31 million people in 70 countries.
     If all of the shipped containers were stacked end to end, they would cover a length of 266 football fields or nearly 15 miles.
     Major pharmaceutical companies, medical equipment manufacturers and local hospitals donate supplies to Northwest Medical Teams.
These donations, along with volunteers who sort and pack the supplies, enable Northwest Medical Teams to send more than 97 percent of all contributions to people who need it most.
    “This historic milestone represents hundreds of thousands of families around the world who have been touched by critically needed medicines,” said Bas Vanderzalm, president of Northwest Medical Teams. “For the baby in Uganda fighting a life threatening infection or the young mother struggling with malaria in Cambodia, these medicines are the difference between life and death.”
     Each month, Northwest Medical Teams sends several million-dollar shipments to stock hospitals and clinics in developing, war-torn or disaster-stricken regions. Working with local staff and partners in-country, the supplies are distributed to regions medicines and basic medical items are nonexistent.
     Additionally, equipment and surgical supplies are sent to modernize outdated surgical units and clinics, improving the quality of care that patients receive. Medical volunteers also carry in medicines and supplies when they arrive in disaster locations, allowing relief workers to begin medical care immediately.
     Last year, the organization procured, processed and shipped nearly $103 million worth of donated products.
     In 2005, Northwest Medical Teams reported its highest year of relief supplies distributed — an astounding $215 million — prompted largely by the organization’s response to the tsunami disaster in southeast Asia.