Containers To Clinics And Damco Partner To Bring Health Clinic To Haiti
Boston, MA and Madison, NJ, June 14, 2010 - Containers to Clinics (C2C) and Damco formed a partnership to transport the pilot C2C primary care unit to Haiti for health infrastructure relief. The clinic consists of two recycled shipping containers modified into a two-exam room, pharmacy, and laboratory facility. Damco has provided all overland and sea shipment of the C2C unit to Haiti where it will be installed as an outpatient prenatal and primary pediatric care center at Grace Children's Hospital.
Stack Design Build manufactured the containers-turned-clinic in Cranston, RI. The clinic was transported by tilt-bed truck to Brooklyn, NY, where it left port aboard the Maas Trader 46 on June 9 bound for Port-au-Prince. The clinic arrived in Port-au-Prince on June 14, and after clearing customs by consignment to USAID:Haiti, it made a last, overland trip to Grace Children's Hospital.
This partnership is a terrific example of two organizations sharing similar principles of mission including innovation, sustainability and essential human rights, explained Elizabeth Sheehan, Founder and President of C2C. By providing pro bono shipping of container clinics, Damco exports the opportunity for better health to the women and children of Port-au-Prince.
Prior to the earthquake on January 12, Haiti had the worst maternal and infant mortality and morbidity ratios in the Western Hemisphere. The earthquake exacerbated these challenges to health service access; with destroyed health facilities, loss of productivity, food insecurity, and extreme water and sanitation challenges, the health situation is at the tipping point from bad to worse. The recovery of the health sector will depend heavily on the reconstruction of destroyed infrastructure and the establishment of replacement and auxiliary health centers throughout the country. C2C is well positioned to respond to the imperative for immediate and quality primary care facilities.
The Damco-C2C partnership highlights the unique value of using shipping containers as health facilities. Damco is pleased to be able to partner with Containers to Clinics in delivering these much-needed shipping container health clinics to the people of Haiti. We thank them for the opportunity to assist in this worthy initiative, said Todd Renehan, Chief Commercial Officer for Damco, North America.
About Containers to Clinics
Driven by the belief that basic health interventions can save the lives of millions in the developing world, Containers to Clinics developed a new clinical model for health service delivery. C2C retrofits portable shipping containers into health clinics with high-quality equipment, medicines, and medical staff.
The clinics are transported to underserved areas of the developing world to administer primary healthcare to women and children. C2C's clinics are designed with diagnostic, lighting, and climate-control technologies appropriate for low-resource settings and reflect local cultural traditions and health education needs.
By repurposing shipping containers, C2C closes the gap between available treatments and the women and children who desperately need them.
About Damco
Damco is the new, combined brand of the A.P. Møller - Maersk Group's logistics activities.
Damco offers a broad range of supply chain management and freight forwarding services to customers all over the world, and has 10,500 employees in over 280 owned offices across 90 countries with representation in 120 countries in Africa, Asia, Australia, North America, Europe, Middle East, and Latin America.
In 2009, the company had a net turnover of over USD 2.0 billion, managed more than 2.3 million TEU of ocean freight and supply chain management volumes and air freighted more than 60,000 tones.
Damco is an independent business activity within the A.P. Møller - Maersk Group.
For more information, please visit www.damco.com.