Bristol-Myers Squibb Supports Haitian Hurricane Relief Efforts
NEW YORK, October 10, 2016 /3BL Media/ -- Bristol-Myers Squibb and the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation are supporting emergency relief effort in Haiti following the Category 4 hurricane which hit the island on October 4, destroying homes and crops, flooding streets and cutting off transportation across the island. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and has been plagued by natural disasters over the past decade.
The company is donating $600,000 in medicines to help the people of Haiti.
The Foundation is donating a total of $70,000 to three long-time partners in disaster relief efforts, Americares, Direct Relief International and Catholic Medical Mission Board. The funds will provide desperately needed basic supplies and medical care for survivors.
“As our emergency response teams are making their way into the most devastated areas in Haiti, we are finding a need for a wide range of relief supplies and medicine to treat survivors injured in the storm,” said Americares President and CEO Michael J. Nyenhuis. “With help from the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation we can meet survivors’ most immediate health needs.”
The storm is estimated to have killed as many as 900 people across the island and destroyed tens of thousands of homes leaving more than 60,000 people living in temporary shelters. There are significant fears of a cholera outbreak due to the flooding.
“Haiti hasn’t recovered from the 2010 earthquake and they have experienced another major disaster; the people need help and they need it immediately,” says John Damonti, president, Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation. “The Foundation is working quickly to provide support to our partners to help get much needed supplies and medical care to the people of Haiti to help alleviate the suffering.”
The Foundation and its disaster relief partners will continue to diligently monitor the situation to provide support as needed.
