Partners In Health
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Partners In Health (PIH) is a Boston, Massachusetts-based non-profit health care organization dedicated to providing a "preferential option for the poor". It was founded in 1987 by Dr. Paul Farmer, Ophelia Dahl, Thomas J. White, Todd McCormack, and Dr. Jim Kim.
The model of the organisation is described as being one in which: clinical and community barriers to care are removed as diagnosis and treatment are declared a public good and made available free of charge to patients living in poverty.[1] For people living in poverty stricken areas, the treatment of AIDS and multidrug resistant tuberculosis has been made possible by this model of care. This model of care provides an alternative to the conventional curative method of treatment for sick patients and instead tries to prevent diseases before they occur. This model believes that primary health care is essential because health is a right and therefore, it should be available to everyone. [2] PIH strives to bring good medical care to the poor by establishing long-term partnerships with local sister organizations.
The idea for Partners in Health first began when Paul Farmer and Ophelia Dahl helped set up a community-based health project in Cange, Haiti known as Zanmi Lasante ("Partners in health"). In 1987, in order to support the efforts in Haiti, Dr. Paul Farmer, Thomas J. White, Todd McCormack, Ophelia Dahl, and Jim Yong Kim founded Partners in Health in Boston Massachusetts. In 1993, Dr. Farmer founded the Institute for Health and Social Justice (IHSJ) which is the research and advocacy arm of PIH. As of 2006, the IHSJ is under the direction of Dr. Joia Mukherjee, Medical Director of Partners In Health.
The people of Haiti, Peru, Russia, and Rwanda have seen the greatest portion of their work, especially in the treatment of tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS. PIH also has clinics in Lesotho and Malawi, as well as supported projects in Chiapas, Mexico and Guatemala. Joia S. Mukherjee, MD, MPH is the medical director of Partners in Health.
Project Locations
Haiti
Zanmi Lasante is PIH’s oldest and largest project. It began as a small community clinic in Cange in 1985, and has now grown into a sociomedical complex. The hospital has 104 beds, 2 operating rooms, an infectious disease center, a pediatric inpatient ward, as well as numerous other health and laboratory facilities. As well as the site in Cange, there are now eight other sites throughout Haiti.
The community based model that PIH implemented in Haiti has become the foundation of their other projects. This model involves hiring local people as community health workers to monitor the needs of the community and to deliver health care to people with chronic diseases such as tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS.
Pulitzer prizewinner Tracy Kidder's book Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World, details PIH's work.
Immediately after the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12th, 2010, Partners in Health established a Stand With Haiti campaign, raising funds and recruiting qualified medical personnel to serve relief efforts in the disaster zone. On January 16 the PIH/Zanmi Lasante team was designated by the World Health Organization to serve alongside Haitian Ministry of Health as coordinators of the public University Hospital (HUEH) in Port-au-Prince, supporting the administration and staff in restoring services at the city's central hospital.
Malawi
Abwenzi Pa Za Umoyo is the local sister project of Partners In Health in Malawi.
Other Locations:
Films
- 2005 - Rx for Survival: A Global Health Challenge. Produced by WGBH Educational Foundation and Vulcan Productions, Inc.
See also
References
External links
- Partners In Health
- A Conversation with Tracy Kidder about Mountains Beyond Mountains by Mark Klempner, 2008.
- Hold On 4 Haiti - a song for Haiti from Steel Pulse - for the Solar Healthcare partnership between the Solar Electric Light Fund and Partners In Health
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