Partners in Health – healthcare for the poor

As Flu Patrol has now expanded from covering influenza to encompass other viral respiratory illnesses, I also hope to increase the scope of its “beneficiaries”, if I may call them that.

Viral respiratory infections (VRI) are common and easily treatable in general. Colds, tonsilitis, sinusitis, and sore throat mostly only need to run their course. But some other types of VRI, such as pneumonia, bronchitis, mumps or even flu need immediate intervention, otherwise they can be debilitating or life-threatening. If you live in one of the richer countries or where healthcare is easily accessible and affordable, then life expectancy isn’t affected much by these infections. But, in developing/poorer countries –

Every day almost 20,000 children die not so much from disease as from callous complacency, killed by conditions that could be prevented or cured with simple, affordable remedies – vaccinations, bednets, food, clean drinking water and antibiotics.

Partners in Health (PIH) is one such organization that seeks to lower this death rate.

Our service to the destitute sick often starts with providing medical care for diseases and conditions that are common and lethal to the poor, even though they are relatively rare and routinely treatable for the privileged. Whether they are suffering from diarrhea or AIDS, obstructed labor or drug-resistant tuberculosis, people come to us because they are sick and because they know, often for the first time, that they will not be turned away because they cannot pay. The medical care we provide can range from the simple act of providing nutritional supplements to airlifting a dying child to Boston for emergency treatment unavailable in rural Haiti or Rwanda.

PIH has outreaches in Haiti, Rwanda, Peru, Russia, Mexico, Guatemala, Lesotho (southern Africa) and even the USA. The most pressing health issues are HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, women’s health, children’s health, basic life needs – water, food, shelter, and support of community health care workers.

To know more about the organization, visit their website at http://www.pih.org/home.html.

Read about a doctor who uprooted his family from North Carolina to work with Partners in Health in Malawi.

Tags: Partners in Health, non-profit organization, healthcare, virus, viral illnesses, HIV, tuberculosis