From South America to West Africa to Siberia, Partners In Health and its sister organizations are marking another year spent providing a preferential health care option for the poor. Here's a glimpse into our efforts during 2014, represented by quotes from patients and staff members across our sites.
10. “Our work is very dynamic. Today you help a patient cope with side effects; tomorrow another patient may need assistance obtaining his pension while another needs to go to the hospital because he was in a drunken fight. Our work is a continuous process of solving patient problems, which involve many actors.”
Sergey Goryunov, a driver for the Sputnik Initiative in Tomsk, Russia. Sputnik is a model of patient-centered accompaniment that provides daily support to tuberculosis and drug-resistant tuberculosis patients who are at the greatest risk of defaulting from treatment.
9. “I so believed in the mission: whatever it takes to provide a preferential option for the poor. It’s a very definitive statement. It’s a mission that propels us to do more, that goes beyond the blame so many place on poor people.”
Samson Njolomole, community program and external relations manager for Abwenzi Pa Za Umoyo, PIH’s Malawian sister organization.
8. “As days went by, I came to accept my illness. The doctors told us there was a cure; I only needed to follow a long treatment. I couldn’t abandon the treatment if I wanted to live.”
Melissa Sanchez (name changed), a teenager being treated for extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis by Socios En Salud, PIH’s sister organization in Lima, Peru.
7. “The vision of this hospital is to work with the Ministry of Health to change the practice of health care in Haiti. How could I not want to be part of something that would outlive me?”
Marc Julmisse, chief nursing officer at Hôpital Universitaire de Mirebalais in Mirebalais, Haiti. PIH operates the hospital in partnership with the Haitian Ministry of Health.
6. “We strive to empower the community by working directly with community members, whether through outreach events, health screenings, or similar programs. Because many of the team’s nurses have been in Tuba City for years, we have a strong connection to the people and know the pulse of the community.”
Charlene Blindman, a nurse and public health manager at the Tuba City Regional Health Care Corporation in Tuba City, AZ. She has delivered care in the Navajo Nation for seven years.
5. “When I’m not working on the big picture of NCD care in Rwanda, I love interacting with and listening to patients. Seeing our patients, especially the elderly and children, improve the quality of their lives gives me satisfaction.”
Gedeon Ngoga, a nurse and noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) program manager at Partners In Health/Inshuti Mu Buzima in Rwanda.
4. “We improved infrastructure, we treated patients with dignity, we addressed transportation challenges, and we made sure expectant mothers were accompanied to the clinics before their due date. Focusing on these issues and properly training staff made a significant difference. Addressing maternal mortality is a gate for us to address all aspects of women’s health—empowering women, which impacts their children’s and families’ health.”
PIH/Lesotho Director Dr. Hind Satti, discussing Lesotho’s Maternal Mortality Reduction Program. The Lesotho Ministry of Health and PIH/L are collaborating to scale up the program nationwide over five years.
3. “Nothing is unchangeable. If you think you can't improve systems, the environment, or people, then you are living in a false realistic world. In this moment, while we’re talking, new doctors under our mentorship are converting idealism and clear-eyed optimism into a better reality.”
Dr. Enrique Valdespino Serrato, who is supervising a class of young Mexican doctors with Compañeros En Salud, Partners In Health’s sister organization in Chiapas, Mexico.
2. “After I had an explanation of what was happening to me, I started to understand that when I heard a voice, I didn’t have to do what the voice told me. Before, if the voice told me to run away, I would run away, but then I learned that the problem is that I’m hearing this voice. When I see something, when I hear a voice, now I understand that it is not about the devil. I’m not afraid anymore. I don’t have to obey them anymore. I sleep well. I can say there have been many changes.”
Paul Mainardi describing the results of mental health treatment and care he received from Partners In Health/Zanmi Lasante in Haiti.
1. “An Ebola diagnosis need not be a death sentence. Here’s my assertion as an infectious disease specialist: if patients are promptly diagnosed and receive aggressive supportive care—including fluid resuscitation, electrolyte replacement and blood products—the great majority, as many as 90 percent, should survive.”
Partners In Health co-founder Dr. Paul Farmer. PIH launched Ebola response efforts this fall in Liberia and Sierra Leone.
