U.S.-Tajikistan: Operation Provide Hope -- Delivery of Humanitarian Medical Assistance

On August 20, 2003, the U.S. Department of State took another step forward in its program of delivering humanitarian assistance to Central Asia by delivering a U.S. shipment of vital medicines to the Republic of Tajikistan, valued at $17 million. The mission symbolizes the continuity of humanitarian shipments delivered through Operation Provide Hope, a program implemented in 1992 to provide emergency humanitarian medical assistance to Central Asia. The delivery aircraft, a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster, was greeted by U.S. Ambassador to Tajikistan Franklin P. Huddle and Tajik Prime Minister Oqil Oquilov at an official ceremony and press conference. Later, in a second ceremony the medicines were presented to the Children's Hospital in Dushanbe. The remaining medicines will be distributed to hospitals and medical centers throughout the country.

Project HOPE, a U.S. non-governmental organization headquartered in Millwood, Virginia, is coordinating the distribution of medicines, with the assistance of Heart to Heart International and Counterpart International. The medicines were donated by various private U.S. pharmaceutical manufacturers.