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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, December 4, 2015 | 4 HPIC distribution centre to deliver life-saving medicine by Julia Le Oakville Beaver Staff When people walk into Health Partners International of Canada's (HPIC) distribution centre, they see skids, boxes and racks, said HPIC President Denis St-Amour. But to him, his staff and those in the most vulnerable communities around the world, the boxes of medicine and supplies are lifesavers. "Sometimes, the smallest type of medication can make such a difference in the lives of people, and we look at this and we see this in a way that is really inspiring," he told guests at an Nov. 25 open house as the Québec-based, not-for-profit relief and development organization opened its new distribution centre in Oakville. St-Amour said, thanks to partners and donors, HPIC has shipped nearly 500 million medicines and supplies over the past 25 years to places in dire need of health care. "That equals about 25 million treatments, and you can believe the great majority of those would never have been received, if it wasn't for your donations," he said. Canadians have helped save thousands upon thousands of people and improved the lives of so many, St-Amour added. HPIC moved into the 11,500-square-foot Oakville facility last month from Mississauga. Christina Parsons, HPIC's senior director of communications said the space better suits its needs and allows staff to be more efficient. At the official opening of Health Partners International of Canada's (HPIC) distribution centre in Oakville, Dr. Dario Del Rizzo spoke about the impact of his partnership with the Canadian relief and development organization dedicated to increasing access to medicine for the most vulnerable communities in the world. | photo by Riziero Vertolli ­ Oakville Beaver (Follow on Twitter @halton_photog or facebook.com/HaltonPhotog) Through this distribution centre on Portland Drive, about one million treatments of essential medicines will be delivered to dozens of communities in the developing world annually. HPIC works with Canadian volunteers, as well as non-governmental organizations in Canada and abroad, and has three main areas of focus: providing medical relief and responding to disasters, improving pharmaceutical management, and creating capacity building projects. If you're a doctor, nurse or anyone in the health field, you can apply for a Physician Travel Pack, which contains essential medicines and supplies for all Canadians going on medical missions, said Parsons. "It's hand-carried and you can set up a clinic virtually anywhere and you're not held back if there's an emergency and the roads are washed out," she said. The travel pack is topped off with hand-knitted Izzy dolls, used in lieu of packing material, for distribution to children. HPIC places an emphasis on meeting the needs of women and children, with its maternal health program geared to helping more mothers and babies survive pregnancy and childbirth. A mother-child health kit, given to frontline health workers, is equipped with medicines and medical supplies to care for mothers and babies during pregnancy, delivery and after birth. It often includes a hand-knitted baby hat. Parsons said HPIC is the only organization of its kind in Canada. St-Amour added the medicines and supplies HPIC distributes help give someone "not a hand-out, but a hand-up." "The gift is really ours," he said. HPIC has helped communities in more than 110 countries from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. Dr. Dario Del Rizzo, who is on the Ontario Medical Association's council and is the examiner for the Medical College of Canada, shared with guests how he's been able to impact communities in the Dominican Republic over the last nine years with the help of HPIC. People are getting more of an education and children aren't dying anymore because they are receiving the medical attention they need, he heard firsthand from nurses there. For more information about HPIC, visit www. hpicanada.ca. ENJOY... 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