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Hilton Humanitarian Prize Goes to Partners In Health,
Innovative Pioneer Bringing Quality Health Care to the Poor
$1.5 million prize to PIH founded by Dr. Paul Farmer
LOS ANGELES – September 26 -- Partners In Health, an innovative health
care leader for poor societies, will receive the 2005 Conrad N. Hilton
Humanitarian Prize of $1.5 million, the world’s largest prize. It
is awarded annually by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation to an organization
that is significantly alleviating human suffering.
“Partners In Health (PIH) provides ‘first world’ health
care to the poorest societies, creating an innovative model that successfully
has reversed the most devastating illnesses and returned people to productive
lives,” said Steven Hilton, chairman and CEO of the Hilton Foundation. “The
PIH model of training local people to be the community-based health care
delivery system has transcended country and cultural boundaries and is
now being adopted by governments and health organizations around the world,” he
added.
Founded in 1987, Partners In Health successfully established its first
community-based health project in Cange, a small impoverished settlement
in Haiti. Today that project serves nearly a million people, treating diseases
while also tackling the conditions of poverty that cause disease.
Dr. Paul Farmer, co-founder of PIH, said, “The prestigious Hilton
Humanitarian Prize is a terrific boost as we seek not only to provide direct
medical services in seven countries, including our own, but also to bring
countless supporters into a broad and global movement to promote basic
rights for the poor. Winning the Hilton Prize is the greatest recognition
yet received by Partners In Health, and we are proud, honored and grateful.”
While still expanding its work in Haiti, the organization has taken its
pioneering model of care for the poor to Peru, Russia, inner-city Boston,
Mexico, Guatemala, and most recently, Rwanda. Its HIV Equity Initiative,
developed in Haiti, has paved the way for antiretroviral therapy for AIDS
patients in resource-poor countries, and its protocol for multidrug-resistant
tuberculosis has been adopted by countries around the world.
In praising the selection of PIH for the Hilton Prize, Dr. LEE Jong-wook,
Director-General of the World Health Organization, said, “Partners
In Health has been a pioneer in demonstrating that quality care can be
provided in a sustainable way in the poorest of settings. This life-saving
model will have an impact on global public health for decades to come.”
Noted Ophelia Dahl, executive director of Partners In Health, “We
realized that, if we were to truly improve the lives of the poor, we must
tackle the root causes of their illnesses. As a result, we address health
care in the broadest possible sense—not just providing medicine,
but also education, water, and housing.”
Dr. Farmer and Partners In Health were the subject of a recent best-seller,
Mountains Beyond Mountains, by journalist Tracy Kidder.
Partners In Health relies on longstanding institutional support in Boston
from Harvard Medical School and one of its teaching hospitals, the Brigham
and Women’s Hospital. Much of the organization’s early funding
came from a Boston philanthropist, Thomas White, who is a co-founder and
PIH’s major donor over the years.
Another co-founder who was also a Harvard medical student with Paul Farmer,
Dr. Jim Yong Kim, is now Director of the HIV/AIDS Department at the World
Health Organization. He commented, “Due to the groundbreaking work
of PIH, the global community has moved from asking ‘should’ antiretroviral
treatment be provided to people living with HIV/AIDS in the poorest countries
to demanding to know ‘when’ it will happen and ‘how’ to
do it most effectively.”
“The Hilton Prize was established in 1996 to call attention to organizations
that are effective and innovative leaders in addressing humanitarian needs
and to encourage others to contribute to their good work,” according
to Judy Miller, vice president of the Hilton Foundation and director of
the Hilton Prize.
Partners In Health was one of nearly 200 nominees for the 2005 Hilton Prize.
A distinguished international jury makes the final selection following
a rigorous examination of the organizations’ work.
This is the tenth anniversary of the Hilton Prize. Previous recipients
are: Heifer International (Arkansas) 2004; International Rehabilitation
Council for Torture Victims (Denmark) 2003; SOS Children’s Villages
(Austria) 2002; St. Christopher’s Hospice (England) 2001; Casa Alianza
(Costa Rica) 2000; African Medical and Research Foundation (Kenya) 1999;
Doctors Without Borders (France) 1998; International Rescue Committee (New
York) 1997; and Operation Smile (Virginia) 1996.
The Hilton Foundation was created in 1944 by hotel entrepreneur and business
leader, Conrad N. Hilton, who left his fortune to the foundation with instructions
to help the most disadvantaged and vulnerable throughout the world. Along
with its related entities, the foundation has total assets of approximately
$2.5 billion and, since its inception, has provided nearly $450 million
in grants to organizations throughout the United States and the world.
It is one of the few U.S. foundations with a worldwide mission, in keeping
with the wishes of Conrad Hilton who noted that the Hilton fortune was
built on the international as well as the domestic hospitality industry.
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For more information visit www.hiltonfoundation.org
Contact:
Casey Sayre & Williams
Barbara Casey
(310) 396-2400
Partners In Health
Jennifer Watson
(617) 525-6671
September 26, 2005
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