Cross International, a relief and development organization based in South Florida, has sent three Interagency Emergency Health Kits (IEHKs) to Katmandu for distribution to remote areas of Nepal in the wake of the second earthquake. According to Jim Cavnar, president of Cross International, each IEHK is weighs one ton and contains medical supplies need to treat 10,000 people for 90 days. IEHKs are United Nations-approved, pre-prepared packages containing medicine, medical supplies and low-tech medical devices that are specifically designed to help doctors and nurses combat diseases in the challenging conditions of disaster areas.

The medical supplies are very important now as time goes on after the initial earthquake because people in tent cities constructed after the April quake are now facing acute respiratory and diarrheal diseases, which are among the sicknesses the IEHKs are designed to address. Cavnar said the supplies will be followed later by two additional containers sent by ocean freight that should arrive right at the end of that 90 day period.

Last year Cross International distributed $85 million in aid in 22 countries distributed through Christian organizations already serving the poor. More than 90 people work in their local offices at The Forum in Pompano Beach. The organization provides food, shelter, medical care, water, education, self-help programs, care for orphans and emergency relief to the poorest of the poor around the world in the name of Christ. For more information, visit crossinternational.org or call 800-391-8545.