60 Minutes aired an interesting story tonight on an organization called Partners in Health, which provides healthcare services and training to individuals in developing countries such as Haiti. Partners in Health employs a "comprehensive and community based approach" that embodies many of the catalytic social entrepreneurship concepts we have been discussing in class. PIH has worked to prove that previously "untreatable" illnesses can in fact be treated, even in some of the world's most impoverished regions. Some of the unique program characteristics discussed in the 60 Minutes segment include: 1) employment of local doctors so the program can be more self-sustaining, 2) getting prescription drugs cheaper by finding companies in places like India that are able to manufacture generics at a fraction of the cost, and 3) making sure people actually take their medications as prescribed by sending community health workers out to visit sick patients every day. The organization has been so successful that certain elements have been adopted by other programs and countries around the globe. For example, the idea of sending out local community health workers to check on patients is currently being used in the United States by Prevention and Access to Care and Treatment (PACT) -- an organization that serves the sickest and most marginalized HIV patients in Boston.
Here is the 60 minutes segment if you're interested, as well as the Partners in Health website link. Very inspiring!
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/05/01/60minutes/main4063191.shtml
http://www.pih.org//home.html
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This is Paul Farmer's organization. There is a fantastic (and very thought-provoking) book by the journalist Tracy Kidder called Mountains Beyond Mountains that describes Farmer's journey from a 1st year Harvard medical student to the leader of a highly successful (if not controversial) international health organization.
Farmer is a visionary in international public health and received a MacArthur award in the early 90s. Fascinating person...
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