By Tyrone Reid, Staff ReporterPROFESSIONALS FROM the health sector yesterday contributed to the post-Hurricane Ivan relief effort by handing over several boxes of clothing, neatly wrapped in Christmas paper, to the Jamaica Red Cross for distribution to the needy.
The handover took place at the launch of the Health Sector Disaster Relief Initiative (HSDRI).
"There is a duty that rests on the shoulders of the fortunate survivors that the unfortunate can be brought back to some normality," said Stephen Delapenha, president of the Jamaica Association of Pharmacy Owners. He was speaking at the headquarters of the Pharmaceutical Society of Jamaica (PSJ).
Henry Harris, outgoing president of the PSJ, told the gathering that members of the HSDRI plan to spread their healing wings to all of the Caribbean.
"We have started a very useful programme and our mandate has been to extend it to the Caribbean because we recognise that disasters that we face in Jamaica happen to be regional phenomena," he said.
CORE SUPPORTERS
Personnel from the various health organisations, the Ministry of Health and several private sector entities among others, are the core supporters of the HSDRI. To date they have successfully solicited donations from the Federated Group, which contributed a shipment of Vape plus and a cheque of $20,000 to start their account.
H.D. Hopwood and Company, local distributor for American corporate giant, Pfizer, also came on board with a donation of $145,000.
Additionally, the programme, through Blue Cross, has received a donation of $100,000 worth of radio promotion to be directed at vector control to enhance the public health education campaign.
