Global NGO Project HOPE Delivers $2 Million of Urgently Needed Insulin to Tajikistan

Project HOPE Responds to Emergency Appeal From Health Authorities in Former Soviet Republic

Global NGO Project HOPE delivered urgently-needed insulin valued at $2 million to Tajikistan after supplies of the medicine to treat diabetics had run out in the former Soviet Republic.

“Currently, there is not just a shortage, but there is not any insulin available in the country,” said Colin Credle, regional manager of humanitarian aid for Project HOPE in Central Asia.

The donated medicine is a combination of short-term and long-term acting insulin that will be used to treat several thousand Tajik citizens who suffer from diabetes, a chronic disease in which there are dangerously high levels of sugar (glucose) in the bloodstream.  Insulin is needed to turn glucose from food into energy that the body’s cells can use.

“Project HOPE continues to work closely with Tajikistan’s Ministry of Health (MOH) to address their most critical needs.  The MOH approached HOPE and the U.S. Department of State as a last resort to help provide Insulin for several thousand diabetes patients who are unable to locate or obtain insulin needed for survival.  The medicine was donated by Eli Lilly and Company to Project HOPE and could not have come at a more critical time,” said Mr. Credle.

International sources of funding for humanitarian aid, including medicines, have been scaled back worldwide due to the global economic downturn among other factors.

The U.S. Department of State funded the transportation of the donated medicine that was distributed to the Republican Clinical Center of Endocrinology in a handover ceremony attended by officials from State, the Tajik government and Project HOPE.

The donated insulin brings the total value of humanitarian aid to Tajikistan from Project HOPE to over $300 million since 2002.  All transportation costs have been funded by the U.S. Department of State.  The “public-private partnership” model at the heart of HOPE’s humanitarian program in Tajikistan is being touted as a successful and promising model for the future in places like Central Asia.

About Project HOPE Founded in 1958, Project HOPE (Health Opportunities for People Everywhere) is dedicated to providing lasting solutions to health crises, with the mission of helping people to help themselves. Identifiable to many by the SS HOPE, the world’s first peacetime hospital ship, Project HOPE now conducts land-based medical training and health education programs in more than 35 countries across five continents.