MAJOR PIH HEALTH IMPROVEMENTS FUNDED BY MTV TELETHON
Posted on Feb 6, 2010
Ophelia Dahl, the Executive Director of Partners In Health (PIH), issued a statement expressing profound gratitude and a firm commitment to rebuild and strengthen the health care system in Haiti after the Entertainment Industry Foundation announced the first disbursement of grants from the “Hope for Haiti Now” telethon, which was hosted by MTV on January 22. PIH, one of six beneficiaries of the telethon, will receive $8 million in the first round of grants.
"All of us at Partners In Health are overwhelmed by the generosity of people around the world who donated to the Hope for Haiti Now telethon. We want to thank the artists who gave of their time and celebrity to generate support and all those in the entertainment industry who made this remarkable event possible.
“We are honored and forever grateful to be one of the organizations benefitting from this extraordinary expression of solidarity with the Haitian people. The funds will support PIH’s immediate efforts to provide medical care and critical supplies to those affected by the earthquake, as well as PIH’s long term strategy to build back Haiti better than before.”
With 12 existing hospitals and health centers in the Central Plateau and Artibonite regions north of Port-au-Prince, with more than 4,000 local staff (including more than 100 doctors, nearly 600 nurses and nursing assistants, and thousands of community health workers), and with an annual budget for operations in Haiti of more than $25 million before the earthquake, PIH was uniquely well-positioned to respond to the disaster. Starting just hours after the earthquake, PIH and our partners at Zanmi Lasante (our sister organization in Haiti) have mobilized resources to provide emergency medical care both at facilities in Port-au-Prince that we helped staff, equip, and supply, and at our hospitals two hours north of the city that were flooded by thousands of earthquake victims fleeing the capital. By Friday, February 5, PIH had deployed 287 medical personnel (mostly surgeons, surgical nurses, and anesthetists) to Haiti and had flown 81 planes, loaded with people and 75 tons of urgently needed medical equipment and supplies.
The $8 million provided by the Hope for Haiti Now telethon will be used to implement a strategy for immediate and long-term relief with four main goals:
- To provide emergency medical care, including surgical, post-operative, and rehabilitative care, through several sites in Port-au-Prince and our existing network of 12 clinical facilities in the Central Plateau and Artibonite.
- To strengthen the long-term capacity of the public health system both in Port-au-Prince and in the Central Plateau and Artibonite, by rebuilding and expanding infrastructure; providing essential medicines, equipment and supplies; recruiting, training, and supervising staff; installing and improving systems for pharmacy management and electronic medical records; and expanding surgical capacity.
- To rebuild and improve the national medical and nursing education system by providing training and technical assistance at Haiti’s National University Hospital in Port-au-Prince, establishing a new teaching hospital in the town of Mirebalais in the Central Plateau, and training an adequate supply of physical therapists and physical medicine and rehabilitation doctors to meet the needs of tens of thousands of earthquake victims with major injuries and long-term disabilities.
- To provide medium and long-term rehabilitation, social support, and economic assistance to earthquake survivors and displaced people who relocate to the Central Plateau and Artibonite. In these areas where PIH is the main provider of health care in partnership with the Haitian Ministry of Health, the population is expected to increase by 500,000 people or more.
The telethon funds will be used in two distinct phases. During the first six months, the primary areas of expenditure will include: medical and surgical care to earthquake victims; community-based care and mobile clinic outreach; immediate social support and meeting basic needs (such as food, water, sanitation, and shelter) of survivors.
The second phase will extend through two years, during which the main uses of funds will be: providing long-term care (including physical therapy, rehabilitation and psychological support services) for earthquake survivors; strengthening public sector health systems; expanding surgical capacity; strengthening Haiti’s medical education system; and expanding social support, community development, and poverty alleviation programs.
Looking ahead, Ophelia Dahl emphasized PIH’s long-term commitment to Haiti. “Going forward, PIH will continue to work with the Ministry of Health in Haiti to strengthen the public health infrastructure, mobilize people at the grassroots level to participate in the health care system and address the mid- and long-term health, social, and economic ramifications of the resettlement of thousands of people who have lost their homes. PIH will continue to stand with Haiti in the months and years to come as we have for the past 25 years.”
