In the News: Our Favorite Moments from 2024

Every year comes with a different set of opportunities and challenges. As 2024 draws to a close, Partners In Health (PIH) is proud to have met this year’s highs and lows, standing in solidarity with marginalized people around the world. Through moments of turbulence, uncertainty, and despair, our global teams of clinicians, community health workers, researchers, and advocates worked tirelessly to remove roadblocks to health care and provide lifesaving support to those who need it most.  

From Haiti to Rwanda to Mexico, we have remained steadfast in accompanying local governments, medical staff, patients, and communities, continuing the legacy of our late Co-founder Dr. Paul Farmer, who acted on the belief that health is a human right and that access to quality care should not be determined by income or geography.

For PIH, this year’s challenging times gave way to opportunities for change, growth, and strengthening our commitment to global health equity. In case you missed it, here are some of our favorite moments:  

1. TIME: Ophelia Dahl is on the 2024 TIME100 List

In April, PIH Co-founder Ophelia Dahl was named one of TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2024. In a piece written by esteemed author and PIH trustee John Green, Dahl is recognized for her more than three decades of work challenging health inequity around the world. Read the full story.

2. Devex: How Partners In Health has kept open its Haiti clinics amid crisis

Amid escalating violence and political instability, Zanmi Lasante (ZL), as PIH is known in Haiti, has been unwavering in its devotion to serving the country’s most vulnerable populations. In April, global news organization Devex spoke with Dr. Wesler Lambert, ZL’s interim executive director, about the 30 years of experience that help day-to-day clinical operations and care delivery persist, despite the challenges of transporting medical staff and supplies. Read the full story.

3. PBS News Hour: University connecting doctors to remote African communities

In April, PBS Newshour travelled to Rwanda to explore how the University of Global Health Equity (UGHE) is connecting people living in impoverished, remote communities to lifesaving care. Dr. Abebe Bekele, UGHE's deputy vice chancellor for academic affairs and research, discussed the programs and partnerships that help prepare medical professionals for treating underserved populations across Africa. Watch the video.  

4. Major advance in the fight against MDR-TB: three new short and effective treatments from recent clinical trials approved by the WHO

In August, the World Health Organization approved four new short and effective multidrug- or rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis treatment options, marking a significant breakthrough in TB care. The treatments, studied in a PIH-led endTB clinical trial, represent nearly a decade of scientific research and patient care across 18 countries. Read the full story.

5. AP News: Sierra Leone not long ago still chained mental health patients. A transformation is underway

With support from PIH, Sierra Leone’s mental health care system is undergoing a crucial transformation. In August, The Associated Press spoke with PIH’s Mental Health Program Co-director Dr. Giuseppe Raviola about the improved infrastructure, newly trained staff, specialized professionals, and expanded services that have turned a once stigmatized psychiatric facility into the highly regarded Sierra Leone Psychiatric Teaching Hospital. Read the full story.

6. NPR (Goats and Soda): Facing Haiti's gang violence, doctors stand by their patients

In a September article discussing disruptions to Haiti’s health care system, where many facilities have either been looted or closed due to the presence of armed gangs, NPR’s Goats and Soda spoke with ZL’s Director of Strategic Planning Dr. Joseph Reginald Fils-Aimé about ways the organization is adapting, offering mobile clinics and finding creative ways to transport patients in need of care to the few remaining hospitals. Read the full story.

7. The New York Times: Can John Green Make You Care About Tuberculosis?

In October, YouTube personality and longtime PIH supporter John Green spoke with The New York Times about the global fight against tuberculosis (TB) and his forthcoming nonfiction book, “Everything Is Tuberculosis.” Green uses his platform to raise awareness about the preventable and curable disease that still kills millions each year, engaging his dedicated Nerdfighteria community to advocate for affordable treatments and diagnostic tests. Read the full story.  

8. Timeline of Paul’s impact on TB Care  

In honor of Paul’s birthday in October, PIH developed a timeline tracking the PIH co-founder's contributions to improving TB treatment, research, and policy across the globe. Swipe through the illustration.  

9. Instagram Q&A: How PIH provides mental health support in Haiti and Mexico through uncertain times

For World Mental Health Day in October, PIH hosted an Instagram Story Q&A with mental health staff from Mexico and Haiti. Ana Ortega, mental health program coordinator, and Dr. Fatima Rodriguez, programs manager for Compañeros En Salud, as PIH is known in Mexico, joined Dr. Junior Brice, mental health program manager for ZL, to answer questions about sustaining mental health programming and self-care in challenging environments. Check out the recap.  

10. Instagram Live at the Maternal Center of Excellence (MCOE)  

Sierra Leone has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world, yet care is steadily improving at PIH-supported facilities, leading to significant decreases in maternal death. The MCOE provides advanced maternal and child health services that offer a promising solution to the devastation of maternal loss. Since breaking ground in 2021, PIH has made significant progress on the facility, and in December, hosted a live Instagram event, to talk about what this facility will mean to women and children living in Sierra Leone—and beyond. Watch the event.