ADRA, partnering organizations sending medical supplies to West Africa

September 08, 2014 | Silver Spring, Maryland, United States | ADRA staff

Cooper Adventist Hospital is located in Monrovia, Liberia. More Adventist Church organization’s are partnering to send needed supplies to administrators and staff as the region grapples with a massive Ebola outbreak. file photo by Becky Carlton Dice/ANN

The Adventist Development and Relief Agency is partnering with other Adventist organizations to provide needed medical supplies in West Africa as the region grapples with an ongoing Ebola outbreak.

In a release today, ADRA announced it is partnering with GlobalMedic to airlift $50,000 worth of supplies to Waterloo Adventist Hospital located in Freetown, Sierra Leone. ADRA is also partnering with Loma Linda University, Adventist Health International and Adventist Health Ministries to provide $92,000 worth of equipment and supplies to Cooper Adventist Hospital in Monrovia, Liberia.

More supplies will also be offered to the Liberian Ministry of Health, the release stated.

The supplies include personal protective equipment such as vinyl gloves, facemasks, isolation gowns and isolation shelter systems.

“As we continue to respond to the Ebola outbreak, our goal is to fight the spread of the disease,” said Jonathan Duffy, president of ADRA International. “We want to protect the workers, improve the care they can provide, and educate the community. It’s critical for us to support our facilities in West Africa.”

Several weeks ago, ADRA implemented an initial $22,000 response that provided protective gear including gloves, goggles, and gowns. ADRA also purchased and delivered disinfectants such as alcohol, chlorine, bleach and other sanitizers for use by the hospital staff.

In Sierra Leone, ADRA is providing psychological counseling and support to victims and families, training to capacitate staff and volunteers, and spreading community awareness and sensitization messages in public markets, churches and bus stations.

The outbreak across five West African countries has killed more than 2,100 people this year, according to the World Health Organization. The WHO last month declared the outbreak Public Health Emergency of International Concern. The affected countries are Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Nigeria and Senegal.