Peru 1991

International Information

International Operation Name: Peru 1991

International Mission Name: Peru 1991

Mandating Organization: Government of Canada

Region Name: South America

Location: Peru

Mission Date: 24 June 1991 - 27 June 1991

Canadian Forces (CF) Information (Peru 1991)

Canadian Task Force Mission Statement: To deliver medical supplies and equipment to Peru to help combat a cholera outbreak and epidemic.

CF Mission/Operation Notes: In January 1991, cholera began to sicken people in the village of Chancay, 60 kilometres from Lima, Peru. In the first four months of the year, cholera had spread up and down the Peruvian coast, killing more than 1,100 and making over 150,000 ill. By the end of 1992, almost every Central and South American nation had been affected.

To combat the epidemic, the Canadian government gave $500,000 in medical help to Peru and authorized a CF mission. On 24 June 1991, a CC-130 Hercules from 435 Squadron in Edmonton departed for Lima Peru, stopping enroute in Mexico and Ecuador. The aircraft was loaded with 14 tonnes of medical supplies and equipment that had been collected over four months by the Peruvian-Albertan Solidarity Association from hospitals and clinics in Alberta and Saskatchewan. The aid was destined for use by the Cayetano Heredia Hospital in Lima where it would be used to treat infected people in the shanty towns of Lima.