by
John W. Mitchell, Senior Correspondent | November 20, 2018
Patient at orthopedic rehabilitation clinic in Syria.
Project C.U.R.E. also began when its founder, economist Dr. Jim Jackson, saw firsthand, the disparity in health and service in the slums of Brazil.
“What he saw there moved him to his core. He witnessed communities without healthcare, doctors without resources and people without hope,” Elizabeth Olsen, manager of national procurement told HealthCare Business News. “Every day we strive to provide our partners around the world with the medical tools they need to sustain, build and thrive on their own.
She recently said, during a visit by a facility accessor to one built in Zambia in 1957, that patients were still being treated in an original operating suite. This included an operating table from 1956, no overhead lights and no working anesthesia machine. This, for a service population of 165,000 people. The accessor watched a surgeon performing a bowel obstruction surgery wearing a headlamp.
Patient in pre-op in Bolivia.
“Upon delivery of a Project C.U.R.E. container, filled with … medical supplies and equipment, the hospital installed a newer operating table, a portable light, a cauterization machine, a patient monitor and a newer anesthesia unit. It was a win for the hospital and the community,” said Olsen.
Olsen added that there is a substantial return on investment of $363,000 for each 40-foot container delivered to a community. The local provider saves, as the monetary savings on such donated equipment and supply costs can be redirected to the facility and staffing.
She said that in recent years they have seen a growing demand for portable imaging and surgical equipment.
Donated medical equipment and supplies are key
Clinics serving the poor usually have no running water, no supplies or medicines, and few beds or exam tables. Patients often receive care on the floor, which is unsanitary and dangerous.
“As a Christian humanitarian organization, World Vision U.S.’ mission is to help the most vulnerable children around the world. This means we work in some of the most impoverished and least developed countries, where health statistics are appalling,” said David Scheiman, the group’s senior technical advisor for health. “No organization has enough funding to meet all the need, and that's where donated equipment and supplies come in.”