Direct Relief, America’s fourth-largest charity organisation, is expected to dispatch a chartered aircraft with medication and medical supplies to Kingston with an expected arrival time of November 8.

The aid will be sent from Direct Relief’s warehouse in Santa Barbara, California, as the organisation join the world in assisting Jamaica in the wake of Hurricane Melissa, which devastated the western section of the island on Tuesday, October 28.

Ivonne Rodríguez-Wiewall, Direct Relief’s executive advisor to the Caribbean, along with Luis David Rodriguez, Direct Relief’s emergency response manager for the Caribbean & Latin America, have arrived in Jamaica along with several of their colleagues ahead of the arrival of the shipments.

Rodriguez said that early assessment shows that the need for help in Jamaica after Hurricane Melissa is intense.

“From our experience, the primary cause of death is not the hurricane itself but the aftermath due to the lack of access to health care services,” she said.

Direct Relief has already allocated $US250,000 just to the logistics and preparedness to respond to Jamaica’s Hurricane Melissa relief efforts.

The group claims to have $US60 million in medication and medical supplies ready to be deployed.

Direct Relief is a humanitarian non-profit organisation based in California whose mission is to improve healthcare and access to healthcare for people impacted by poverty and disasters.