Digicel dispatches aid plane to Haiti to assist with cholera outbreak

Oct 24, 2010 News

KINGSTON, JAMAICA. Digicel, on Friday, dispatched a plane loaded with vital relief supplies to assist the people of Haiti. With a cholera outbreak in the central part of the country which has so far claimed the lives of some 142 people – and with a further 1,500 cases to date of people suffering from severe diarrhoea and vomiting – access to uncontaminated food and water is critical.

Digicel Group CEO, Colm Delves, helps to load relief supplies on the Digicel aid plane bound for Haiti.

The Digicel plane took off from Kingston, Jamaica on Friday afternoon and carried 2000 lbs of vital supplies like oral rehydration salts, water purification tablets, hand sanitiser and soap.
These supplies were transferred by Digicel staff as soon as the plane landed in Port-au-Prince to hospitals and health facilities in the affected areas.
Digicel Haiti has also activated a dedicated customer care centre and SMS service where customers can get important information and updates on the situation for free.
Colm Delves, Group CEO of Digicel, commented; “We are very sad to hear the news of the cholera outbreak in Haiti and our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Haiti. We hope that the situation can be contained as quickly as possible and want to do everything we can to help make that happen. Since our launch in Haiti in 2006, we have been with the Haitian people every step of the way, and now as ever, we stand ready to assist.”
As the single largest investor in Haiti with a total investment of over US$370 million since its launch in 2006, Digicel has over two million customers in Haiti. To date, Digicel has contributed more than US$20 million to the relief efforts in Haiti post the January earthquake.