DHL Global Forwarding provides vital medical care to children in El Salvador

 DHL Global Forwarding, DHL Group’s freight specialist, has entered into a pro bono logistics partnership with the non-profit association kinderherzen e.V.

As part of this cooperation, DHL Global Forwarding will transport the world’s first mobile pediatric heart clinic (MOHKI) to missions in various countries free of charge. The first stop of the mobile clinic is El Salvador, where a team of international heart surgeons and medical professionals and nurses will operate on and treat children with congenital heart defects free of charge.

“This partnership underscores DHL’s unwavering humanitarian commitment,” said Tim Scharwath, CEO of DHL Global Forwarding. “By providing vital medical care to children in El Salvador and other countries, we are fulfilling our mission to connect people and improve their lives.”

DHL’s Global Humanitarian Logistics Center in Dubai oversees the planning and management of logistics services for kinderherzen. With its large network of experts and its offices around the world, DHL ensures fast and efficient transport to all locations. The shipment, consisting of eleven containers, was delivered by sea and road freight from Bremen to the Hospital Nacional Juan José Fernández in the Zacamil district of El Salvador. After an approximately 15-day set-up and set-up phase, the mobile clinic will offer heart surgeries and medical treatments for young children in the Central American country who might otherwise not have access to adequate medical care.

“We are committed to ensuring that children with congenital heart defects have access to life-saving surgeries and treatments, regardless of where they are born. The partnership with DHL, one of the world’s leading logistics providers, will make a decisive contribution to this,” emphasizes Dr. Andreas E. Urban, CEO and founder of kinderherzen e.V., who is himself a pediatric heart surgeon.

Anja Schlarb, who is also responsible for the mobile children’s heart clinic as Head of International at kinderherzen, adds: “We are proud to be working with DHL to provide hope and healing to children in need. Together, we can make a real difference in the lives of children who are born with heart disease.”

MOHKI will remain in El Salvador until May 2024. Afterwards, they will continue to Burundi in East Africa as part of annually rotating missions to support the global mission of kinderherzen.