International Medical Corps and Agility join hands to ensure speedy delivery of essential supplies to strife-affected hospitals
Los Angeles, CA, September 25, 2008, International Medical Corps (IMC) and global logistics giant Agility, have teamed up to deliver essential medical supplies and equipment to Rasafa district in Baghdad, home to Al Sadr City. Agility trucked 47 pallets of life-sustaining medical supplies to IMCs' warehouse in Baghdad.
Sadr City is one of the poorest and most volatile neighborhoods in the Iraqi capital. IMC has worked in Sadr City for many years and has responded to several emergencies under dangerous and challenging circumstances. IMC personnel distributed the donation to hospitals that desperately need the supplies.
More than 10,000 people are directly benefiting from the equipment that includes oxygen saturation monitors, administration regulators, nebulizers, food pumps, pain control infusion pumps, pediatric resuscitation units, suction pumps, incubators, baby warmers, heart start units, ultrasound machines, syringes, surgical gloves and wheel chairs.
"Agility quickly responded to our requirements and clearly understood the magnitude of the task at hand," says Rabih Torbay, International Medical Corps Vice President of International Operations. "By employing their logistics expertise and regional know-how, Agility supported us in an emergency response effort that saved, and will continue to save, many lives."
Sadr City is densely populated and home to one to three million people, most of them poor day laborers. Even during peaceful times the neighborhood suffers from a lack of water, electricity, and other services. In April and May this year, thousands got trapped when armed factions turned the area into a battle field. Weeks of violent clashes claimed more than 1,000 lives and left several thousands injured. The ongoing insecurity has led many primary health care centers to close down entirely, just as one of the main hospitals - Shaheed Al Sadr Hospital - came under rocket attack.
As a result, health services were restricted to emergency trauma cases and supplies ran out. Both staff and patients experienced difficulty in accessing the area's hospitals. The supplies were delivered at a critical time as the population struggles to return to normalcy.
"Agility is proud to be associated with the mission to replenish the necessary medical supplies at all the district's hospitals and we will continue to work with International Medical Corps on life-saving operations," said Mariam Al-Foudery, Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility at Agility.
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About International Medical Corps
Since its inception nearly 25 years ago, International Medical Corps' mission has been to relieve the suffering of those impacted by war, natural disaster and disease, by delivering vital health care services that focus on training. This approach of helping people help themselves is critical to returning devastated populations to self-reliance. For more information, visit www.imcworldwide.org
About Agility
Agility is a leading emerging market multinational with more than 32,000 employees, and over 550 offices in 100 countries around the world. A publicly traded company, with over $6 billion in annual revenue, we have three key business groups - Global Integrated Logistics (GIL), Defense & Government Services (DGS) and Investments. Agility GIL is our commercial division, providing integrated logistics solutions to customers spanning a range of industries from technology and retail to defense and government, chemical and oil and gas.
The Agility DGS business group provides comprehensive logistics solutions to various government entities and non governmental organizations on a global basis. With three business divisions - Real Estate, Private Equity and Trade Facilitators, Agility Investments utilizes the local insights from our global network to invest in specialized opportunities in the emerging markets.
For more information about Agility, visit www.agilitylogistics.com.
Media Contact information:
Agility:
Nita Bhatkar
Manager - Global Public Relations
Kuwait
Tel. +965.498.1154
Fax +965.467.1013
Email: nbhatkar@agilitylogistics.com
Edward D'Mello
Group Account Director
Polaris Public Relations, Dubai
Tel: +971 4 341 5555
Fax: +9714 341 5588
Email : e.dmello@polaris-me.com
International Medical Corps:
Stephanie Bowen
Communications Manager - Los Angeles
Tel. 310-826-7800
Email : sbowen@imcworldwide.org
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
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