AFRICA – Adventist Health has inked a US$3 million deal with the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), the international humanitarian branch of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, to send medical supplies to Africa to aid Covid-19 response.
The partnership has already initiated the programme, with six shipping containers filled with medical supplies already in transit to Ghana, Malawi, Namibia, Uganda, Zambia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
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.
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.
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