By Karly Kolaja
Stamford, CT , August 5, 2016 – AmeriCares is deploying medical teams to Assam and Bihar, where relentless flooding has killed more than 90 people and forced nearly 1 million into relief camps. The first teams, organized by the AmeriCares India office in Mumbai, are already on the ground in some of the worst-affected areas, delivering medicines and treating survivors.
AmeriCares is focused on ensuring families affected by the floods have access to critical primary care services, including medication, as well as health and hygiene products that will help prevent the spread of communicable diseases. The emergency response and global health nonprofit is also delivering water purification supplies in areas without access to clean water.
“Waterborne diseases are always a major concern after severe flooding,” said Shripad Desai, managing director of AmeriCares India. “We are working to ensure survivors have access to essential medicine and safe drinking water to help prevent the spread of infectious disease.”
After two straight years of drought, heavy monsoon rains uprooted trees, damaged swaths of land and snapped telephone lines. Landslides and heavy rains have blocked highways and submerged homes in several feet of water.
AmeriCares has been aiding survivors of natural disasters, political conflict and extreme poverty around the world for nearly 40 years, saving lives and building healthier futures for people in crisis. AmeriCares India provides emergency medical and humanitarian aid in response to floods, cyclones, earthquakes and other disasters.
Most recently, the AmeriCares India team responded to the Nepal Earthquake, the 2015 flooding in Tamil Nadu and the 2014 flooding in Jammu and Kashmir. AmeriCares India also provides health education, supports health workforce safety programs, and operates seven mobile medical clinics that provide free primary care services at 130 locations throughout the slums of Mumbai.
To make a donation to AmeriCares India Disaster Relief Fund, go to americares.org/IndiaRelief
About AmeriCares
AmeriCares is an emergency response and global health organization committed to saving lives and building healthier futures for people in crisis in the United States and around the world. Every day, AmeriCares puts critically needed medicines and supplies in the hands of frontline health workers and develops innovative, sustainable health improvements in their communities. For more information, visit americares.org
