Vitamins needed for medical outreach program

A medical mission team comprised of Southeast Alabama Medical Center doctors is preparing for a trip this summer to the country of Panama and is requesting donations from Wiregrass residents.

The medical team needs pediatric and pre-natal oral vitamins to distribute to Ngobe women and children, an indigenous people living on a rural and remote reservation in the Chiriqui province of Panama. Any brand or flavor, including generics, will be accepted. However, liquid vitamins cannot be used. The region in Panama has a 40-percent infant mortality rate, and doctors will conduct medical clinics.

The medical mission team includes doctors, nurses and volunteers and is led by Dr. Steve Stokes of the Southeast Cancer Center. The team will be in Panama from Aug. 1-9. Vitamin donations can be delivered to the Southeast Cancer Center inside Southeast Alabama Medical Center.