Ottawa Sun
Published: Wednesday, February 10, 2010 The hurt in Haiti remains Twenty-nine days ago the island nation of Haiti was rocked by a seven-plus earthquake with an epicentre 25 kilometres west of the capital of Port-au-Prince. Already the hemisphere’s poorest country, nature’s wrath set back Haiti’s tepid industrial, social and democratic progress for a generation or more. Worse still, Haiti has all but disappeared from daily headlines and nightly newscasts. Apart from Anderson Cooper and a CNN crew, the world — if we use the media as our proxy — has turned the page and moved on. The Olympics are upon us and billions of dollars of ads and winter sports competition will soon command our rapt attention. Yet for Haiti, the misery and suffering continues. Countless thousands live in makeshift tent cities and the reconstruction that many governments, including ours, pledged a few weeks back in Montreal is still months if not years away. But you can still help. The deadline for the federal government to match your donations to a qualified aid agency or charity is this Friday. For a list of examples of these charities go to the government’s website at canada.gc.ca and click on the “Earthquake in Haiti” graphic. From the Red Cross to World Vision, there are many organizations that can turn your generosity — a whopping $113 million across Canada so far — into the necessities of life. One registered charity not on this list (but which still qualifies for matching government funds) that I have seen work first hand (I visited their GTA-based distribution centre and modest Montreal office back in 2005) is Health Partners International Canada, also known as HPIC. This 20-year-old organization is a pioneer in delivering physician travel packs — PTPs — to impoverished areas of the world like Afghanistan, Cuba, the Congo and Zimbabwe, to conflict zones, and in times of crisis, to areas of natural disaster due to floods, hurricanes, or earthquakes. The PTPs contain about $5,000 (wholesale value) of basic medicines and primary care supplies that can be used by a medical professional to treat up to 1,000 people in a populated city or remote rural area. And we’re not just talking Aspirin and some gauze. They contain everything from antibiotics to anti-malaria medication; topical creams, anti-fungal and anti-parasitic treatments; along with oral rehydration aids, medical supplies, vitamins, and ointments and much more as you dig through this 50-pound-plus box. HPIC has partnered with the associations and companies in the innovative biopharmaceutical sector (yes, I worked in the sector in 2005 and 2006, bias revealed), the generic pharma industry along with over-the-counter medical product suppliers to maintain the lifeblood supply of product to continually fill these travel packs. Already Canadian companies from these three sectors of the life sciences realm have contributed over $9 million in product and cash to HPIC’s Haitian relief effort. Three air shipments and one by sea of this hope, care and life-in-a-box have been sent to NGOs operating in Haiti so far, with plans to help for the foreseeable future. If you want to make a difference in Haiti, consider visiting hpicanada.ca before Friday’s deadline. Or if you prefer another aid organization, great, but please give generously. A month has passed, but the hurt in Haiti remains; your dollars will make a difference. |