Medical supplies from the T&T Red Cross Society to help treat 300,000 people arrived in earthquake-ravaged Haiti yesterday. Director general of the society, Angela Gouveia, said yesterday the supplies, which included bandages, needles, sanitary pads, splints, burn kits and delivery kits for pregnancies, arrived in Haiti and were received by the America Red Cross there. She said the society received a "slug" confirming that at 5 pm yesterday. The supplies left T&T on an official Red Cross airplane at Piarco at 4 am yesterday. "That was actually the only plane from the region that got in (to Haiti)," Gouveia said.
Meanwhile, the society said donations to its Haitian Appeal Funds reached $1,020,351.31, as of 9 am yesterday. That money, the society said, would be forwarded to the International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC) and Red Crescent Headquarters in Geneva. Gouveia said it formed part of the US$100 million targeted to assist 300,000 persons in Haiti for the next three years. The IFRC on Saturday raised its Haiti-help appeal from US $10 million in Swiss francs to US$103 million (105.7 million Swiss francs).
The appeal, IFRC said, maps out the response of the world's largest humanitarian network. The IFRC said in the coming days and week, significant focus would go to trying to reduce the risk of water-borne and water-related diseases. Gouveia reiterated that the main areas of focus for the IFRC was shelter, livelihoods, water and sanitation, health and psychological care.
She said the society's communications officer, Genikke Mayers, was in Haiti assisting in relief efforts.