Initiative is part of ongoing efforts amid the third wave of COVID-19 in several countries.
Six shipping containers filled with medical supplies from Adventist Health are on their way to Africa to assist with COVID-19 emergency responses in Ghana, Malawi, Namibia, Uganda, Zambia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
This US$3 million project is the result of a partnership between California-based Adventist Health and the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), the international humanitarian branch of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Each shipping container is filled with general medical supplies, personal protective equipment (PPE), medication, operating room supplies, and mobile medical testing equipment for COVID-19 and other diseases.
Both large and small health facilities in various regions of Africa have been overwhelmed with demand for health care due to COVID-19 infections. The scarcity of vaccines in Africa and challenges to treatment undermine effective response to the third wave of the pandemic.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic occurred around the globe, ADRA has partnered with local authorities and agencies to ramp up emergency responses to serve nearly 20 million people in 96 countries impacted by the coronavirus.
In Africa alone, where reportedly more than 5.7 million cases of the virus are impacting several nations, ADRA aims to minimize the threat of COVID-19 by providing prevention training, engaging with the community, and supplying health-care workers with PPE, hygiene kits, and more.
“ADRA has been responding to disasters for nearly 60 years and continues empowering and serving people facing global crises through the support of partners, such as Adventist Health,” Alex Balint, ADRA’s director of corporate and social partnerships, said. “Thanks to their generous contribution, frontline workers in Africa will get the necessary equipment to protect themselves as they work to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and serve many lives.”
The humanitarian agency will assist Adventist Health with distributing its medical supplies as they arrive at their destinations.
“This global health initiative is part of the Adventist Health commitment to engage in meaningful expressions of God’s love in communities in need of health, wholeness, and hope,” John Schroer, Global Missions system lead for Adventist Health, said. Adventist Health serves more than 80 communities on the West Coast and Hawaii and others throughout the United States through its Blue Zones company.
This shipment is just one of several projects that Adventist Health and ADRA are partnering on around the world and is the second round of supplies sent to Africa as a result of the partnership. A third shipment is scheduled for February 2022.
About Adventist Health
Founded on Seventh-day Adventist heritage and values, Adventist Health provides care in hospitals and clinics. Its innovative Adventist Health Hospital@Home program offers virtual in-patient care at home, home care agencies, hospice agencies, and joint-venture retirement centers in rural and urban communities. Adventist Health’s compassionate and talented team of 37,000 includes associates, medical staff physicians, allied health professionals, and volunteers driven in pursuit of one mission: living God’s love by inspiring health, wholeness, and hope. Together, we are transforming the American health-care experience with an innovative yet timeless, whole-person focus on physical, mental, spiritual, and social healing to support community well-being.
About ADRA
The Adventist Development and Relief Agency is the international humanitarian arm of the Seventh-day Adventist Church serving in 118 countries. Its work empowers communities and changes lives around the globe by improving health, increasing livelihoods, providing access to education, and responding to disasters. ADRA’s purpose is to serve humanity so all may live as God intended.
The original version of this story was posted by the Adventist Development and Relief Agency.
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