Update on the Medicines for Haiti Request from Yesterday

Hi, Tom here with an update on the medical requests that I sent out yesterday after talking to a number of medical people and logistics specialists after I did the update yesterday.    Here’s what I’ve found out:

1. The majority, if not all, of the items on the list that Susan gave me are NOT able to be purchased without a prescription.
2. But most of you should be able to contact your family doctor, give him a list of the items that Susan requested, explain that they are for an orphanage in Haiti and ask how many they can help get.
3. If you are willing to “cold call” some pharmaceutical companies looking for donations, contact Rebecca Taylor. Rebecca has graciously volunteered to do some research on which companies manufacture which of the medicines that we need.
4. Don’t buy any of them online unless you check the sources out very carefully with our medical people at GLA.   There are too many out there that aren’t reliable, aren’t good quality meds and are too expensive.

On July 8, my wife and daughter will be going down to GLA with a group from our church.   In talking about it last night, they have room for approximately 10 suitcases worth of medical supplies.   Here’s what I’d love to have happen:

• As many of you as possible, get with your family doctor and see what they are willing to do in terms of providing/donating any of the medicines on Susan’s list.
• When you know what you can get, e-mail my daughter, Kristin Vanderwell and let her know how much you can come up with so she can track the space they have available.
• Ship them to our house. Our address is:   Tom & Cheryl Vanderwell 3056 Viewpoint St. Jenison, MI 49428
• Ship them early enough so that we can get them in time to pack them on July 7 because they leave on July 8.
• If you find you have access to substantial amounts that either exceed the size that the  Hillcrest team would have room for or exceed the costs that you can handle personally, let me know and we’ll work something out.

I’d love to send 10 or 11 suitcases worth of these medications down to Dixie and Susan and the rest of the nurses on July 8.   Imagine what a difference that could make for the lives of the kids there!   Imagine what a message that would send to Dixie and the gang about how people still care and are still working to help!

If you’ve got questions, chances are that someone else does as well, so leave the questions in the comments section and we’ll get answers.

I’m going to repost the list of items again at the bottom of this post.

Thanks,

Tom Vanderwell

Aciclovir (200mg) Dispersible
Aciclovir 5% cream
Albendazole 400mg chewable
Azithromycin (200mg/5ml) Powder for Suspension
Ceftriaxone (500mg) powder for injection
Co-trimoxazole 200mg + 40mg/5ml Oral suspension (we use this regularly and it is no longer available in Haiti)
Diazepam 10mg/2ml for injection
Epinephrine 1mg/ml for injection
Fluconazole 50mg/5ml (maybe 10 bottles)
Folic Acid 5mg
Metronidazole (125mg/5ml) Suspension (Again, we use a lot of this and can no longer buy it in Haiti)
Prazinquantel (600mg)
Vitamine A 50 000iu gel capsules
Vitamine A 100 000 iu gel capsules
Vitamine B compound 2ml for injection
Vit K1 (1mg/1ml) for injection (I need this quite urgently). It is very expensive to buy in the USA.
Zink Dispersible 20mg (maybe 200 tabs).