The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has delivered over 2.6 tons of vital medical supplies to Cuba to support the country’s response to Hurricane Melissa, which struck eastern Cuba as a Category 3 storm with winds reaching up to 205 km/h. The shipment, sent from PAHO’s Regional Strategic Stockpile in Panama, arrived on October 28 and includes nine emergency health kits, enough medicines and surgical supplies to assist 5,000 people for three months, chlorine tablets to purify nearly eight million liters of water, and essential equipment such as medical backpacks, tents, and water storage tanks.
The supplies were dispatched under the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) anticipatory action mechanism and will be distributed to the hardest-hit areas once communication routes are restored. According to Dr. Mario Cruz Peñate, PAHO/WHO Representative in Cuba, these resources are crucial for maintaining basic healthcare, ensuring safe water access, and mitigating immediate health risks following the storm. PAHO continues to work closely with Cuba’s Ministry of Public Health and Civil Defense on damage assessment, service reorganization, and disease surveillance in affected zones.
Additionally, PAHO is coordinating the procurement of more generators, mosquito nets, and chlorine tablets for a second shipment to further strengthen Cuba’s health response and prevent outbreaks of vector- and waterborne diseases such as dengue and cholera, which often surge after major storms.
In parallel, PAHO’s Emergency Operations Center in Barbados has been activated to coordinate regional response efforts across the Caribbean, including damage assessment and health infrastructure recovery. The Organization is also preparing to send 5.5 additional tons of humanitarian aid to Jamaica once the airport reopens. This shipment will include emergency health kits, non-communicable disease kits, trauma care supplies, field tents, mosquito nets, and personal protective equipment to ensure continued access to essential healthcare services.
PAHO remains in close coordination with national governments, UN agencies, and humanitarian partners to support recovery efforts, restore health systems, and safeguard the wellbeing of communities affected by Hurricane Melissa across Cuba, Jamaica, and the wider Caribbean region.
