São Paulo – Brazil sent a cargo of approximately 90 kilograms of cancer treatment medications to Lebanon last Saturday (2) that were requested by a pediatric hospital in capital Beirut. The medications were transported on a Brazilian Air Force (FAB) KC-30 aircraft, which is conducting its tenth repatriation flight for Brazilians in the Arab country. The aircraft is expected to land back in São Paulo early Tuesday morning (5).
According to information from the Ministry of Health, the medications sent were placed in special boxes and stored at a temperature between 2°C and 8°C. In addition to these, 27.3 tonnes of food baskets were donated after being collected by the United for Lebanon (UFL).
The operation known as “Cedar Roots,” which organizes the repatriations, has already delivered eight shipments of medications, medical supplies, and rehydration envelopes to the Arab country. Part of the donations comes from the stock of the Brazilian national health system SUS, while the rest was donated by companies or collected by diplomatic representations. By the conclusion of the ninth repatriation flight, 1,859 people and 20 pets were brought from Beirut to São Paulo. The tenth flight is returning to Brazil with 213 passengers and pets.
The “Cedar Roots” operation is coordinated by the Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the Brazilian Cooperation Agency. It involves partnerships with Brazil’s Ministry of Health, the Lebanese Embassy in Brasília, the General Consulate of Lebanon in São Paulo, and the UFL.
Agreement for Brazilians to leave Lebanon
On Monday (04), Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported on its social media channels that it “reiterates to all Brazilians to seek to leave Lebanon by their own means” and says that the Brazilian Embassy in Beirut has conducted negotiations to secure priority boarding for Brazilians on flights with Middle East Airlines (MEA) to Frankfurt, Germany, and Madrid, Spain, “in the coming weeks.”
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Brazil’s gov’t donates health supplies to Lebanon
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
