News release

Special delivery: medicine for 24,000 Haitians to be airlifted Jan. 30

MONTREAL (Jan. 29, 2010) - Medicine that can treat an estimated 24,000 patients will be delivered to NGO partners in Haiti by Health Partners International of Canada thanks to Air Canada, which is providing free cargo and transportation on a Jan. 30 flight to Port-au-Prince.

"I am impressed by HPIC's amazing partners in Haiti who are working so hard to treat the wounded and the sick," says Boileau, HPIC's Executive Vice-President. "Our relief effort, funded by generous donors in Canada and made possible by the generosity of the pharmaceutical industry, will be a multi-phase response aimed at equipping medical teams and doctors."

Forty Physician Travel Packs, mobile medical kits containing essential medicines and medical supplies for primary health care, will be on board the plane. Each kit contains about $5,000 worth of medicine donated by Canada's pharmaceutical industry and can treat up to 600 patients.

Boileau will meet representatives of a field hospital run by Médecins du Monde and medical students from the Dominican Republic as well as people from the OMS Clinic. The goal of this trip is to securely hand over the medicines and to assess the situation on the ground by speaking directly to partners.

HPIC is working with these three partners as well as other NGOs and volunteer medical teams from Canada.

"HPIC was involved in Haiti prior to the earthquake and we are working with partners to get medicine directly into the hands of doctors and nurses," Boileau says. "Our aim is to be needs-driven and to continue working in Haiti even when the spotlight has lifted."

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Health Partners International of Canada is a humanitarian not-for-profit relief and development organization dedicated to improving access to medicine and enhancing health in the developing world. HPIC contributes to well-being by providing donated essential medicines, supplies and vaccines, building national health sector capacities, and responding to emergencies and health threats. We partner with a network of ministries of health, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and healthcare professionals, with healthcare product companies, and with Canadian government departments; and we count on the financial support of individual donors, foundations and corporations. Because of our unique model, HPIC multiplies every donated dollar to provide, without discrimination, at least $10 of free medical aid.

About HPIC

Health Partners International of Canada is a humanitarian not-for-profit relief and development organization dedicated to improving access to medicine and enhancing health in the developing world. HPIC contributes to well-being by providing donated essential medicines, supplies and vaccines, building national health sector capacities, and responding to emergencies and health threats. We partner with a network of ministries of health, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and healthcare professionals, with pharmaceutical and healthcare product companies, and with Canadian government departments; and we count on the financial support of individual donors, foundations and corporations. Because of our unique model, HPIC multiplies every donated dollar to provide, without discrimination, at least $10 of free medical aid.

For more information contact:
Christina Parsons
Director, Corporate Communications
514-822-1112, ext. 119
email: