Following the earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12 2010, the International Diabetes Federation and its Task Force on Insulin and Other Essential Diabetes Medicines responded by taking a series of actions to assist its member association in the country, The Haitian Foundation for Diabetes and Cardiovascular Diseases (FHADIMAC). Regular email and telephone contact was established between the IDF Executive Office and Dr Nancy Larco, project coordinator of the association, to assess their situation and needs.
IDF took the following action in response to the crisis:
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The IDF Memorandum of Understanding with Insulin for Life (IFL) was activated, as has been done for similar emergency situations in the past, to coordinate the successful dispatch and delivery of insulin and other diabetes supplies to the association in Haiti. Contact was facilitated between IFL and FHADIMAC, and a shipment of enough supplies to last 200 people with diabetes for one month was immediately made available by IFL through its various global affiliates. Issues arose with regards to the delivery of these supplies to Haiti, as courier services to the island had either been suspended or significantly reduced. A solution was found to deliver the supplies through individuals travelling to and from Haiti and the USA. A first batch of supplies was brought to Haiti by Dr Larco on January 17, and the remaining supplies were delivered by contacts identified by FHADIMAC, on January 22. The delivered supplies were immediately distributed to people with diabetes assisted by the centre.
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A Diabetes Trust Fund for Haiti was established to assist people with diabetes in the country affected by the earthquake. Member associations and individuals were encouraged to donate to support people with diabetes during the emergency and contribute to rebuilding services for the more than 300,000 people with diabetes in Haiti in the longer term. Donation to the Fund was made available online through PayPal and by bank transfer, and the Fund was promoted through various IDF communication channels. Many IDF member associations also promoted the Fund on their websites.
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Regular contact was maintained with IDF corporate partners to stay informed of and share information about relief efforts initiated by them. IDF was made aware of the shipment of significant amounts of emergency supplies to Haiti from a number of partners, and facilitated contact between them and FHADIMAC so that the supplies could be accessed by the association.
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IDF's member associations, global network of volunteers, corporate partners, other contacts and the media were regularly kept informed and updated on the IDF relief effort and the situation of people with diabetes in Haiti. A global media release was issued and three news alerts were published in the week following the earthquake.
IDF will continue to monitor the situation in Haiti very closely and provide assistance to its member association in the country.
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