Project HOPE, John P. Howe, III, M.D.

Dr. Howe's Blog Now Hosted on Project HOPE Web Site

2011-01-13T13:18:00.004-05:00

The blog of John P. Howe, III, President and CEO of Project HOPE is now being hosted on the Project HOPE Web site.

Enjoy the same inspiring and informative blogs as Dr. Howe travels to HOPE program sites around the world by visiting http://www.projecthope.org/news-blogs/ceo-blog/.

Facilitating Cholera Care and Education in Haiti

2010-10-29T13:22:00.007-04:00

The Grand Facilitator – that is one of the main roles Project HOPE is fulfilling in Haiti today to address the recent cholera outbreak.

In addition to providing medical volunteers, as well as donated medicines and medical supplies, to care for those now suffering from cholera and to assist in the prevention of the disease, Project HOPE is bringing a team of the world’s foremost experts in cholera to Haiti.

Project HOPE, with the assistance of HOPE volunteer and Massachusetts General Hospital physician Larry Ronan, is coordinating the participation of the International Center of Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B) to assess the current situation and provide its clinical expertise to enhance the care of cholera patients.

The eight-person ICDDR,B team, under the direction of Dr. Alejandro Cravioto, is bringing decades of experience in the treatment of cholera and dysentery, as well as the management of major epidemic outbreaks. The ICDDR,B has assisted governments and local health authorities in countries such as Bahrain, Ecuador, Iraq, Mozambique, Peru, Zaire, Nepal, Papua New Guinea and Zimbabwe, in successfully handling cholera outbreaks.

In addition to the ICDDR,B team, Project HOPE is facilitating the involvement of a four-person team from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) with the ICDDR,B to help in the creation of a plan to slow and eventually stop the cholera outbreak.

Project HOPE has facilitated all of these resources, in addition to a volunteer team of physicians and nurses from the Massachusetts General Hospital and the delivery of nearly $200,000 of medical supplies in less than one week – all the result of 52 years of experience in dealing with natural disasters.

It is these types of resources – global expertise, medical volunteers and medicines and medical supplies – that Project HOPE is bringing to bear to benefit the people of Haiti and others around the world in need of our help.

Learn more about HOPE's response to the cholera outbreak in Haiti.

John

HOPE Working to Reduce Widespread Suffering from Cholera

2010-10-27T08:31:00.007-04:00

At the request of the Haiti Minister of Health, Project HOPE has responded swiftly to the country’s cholera outbreak.

Yesterday, an additional six HOPE volunteers from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston arrived at L’hopital Albert Schweitzer in Deschapelles, located in the Artibonite River Valley, the ground-zero for the cholera epidemic with a population of 300,000.

The good news is that these HOPE volunteers, when they arrived, found fewer patients being admitted with cholera. That said, they are now treating 60 cholera patients in a facility that normally has 80 beds -- and is still caring for patients with long-term injuries from the January earthquake.

In addition to patient care, the HOPE volunteers will train area residents, throughout the Artibonite Valley, how to prevent the spread of the disease with good personal hygiene and proper food handling, as well as clean water usage. Even with the current numbers of cholera patients at L’hopital Albert Schweitzer, it is still early in the disease outbreak process.

In keeping with our intent to do all we can to reduce, and ultimately eliminate, the spread of the disease, HOPE will be sending two additional volunteer physicians from the MGH to Haiti on Thursday, one a pediatric and the other an adult specialist in infectious diseases.

For the health of the Haitian people, we are working hard to reduce widespread suffering and death from the cholera outbreak. Your support means much to HOPE. I look forward to sharing my next update with you.

John

HOPE Delivering Humanitarian Assistance in Haiti

2010-10-26T00:01:00.009-04:00

The world’s attention is once again focused on Haiti. In the face of this new crisis, Project HOPE is on the scene delivering humanitarian assistance.

The Haiti Ministry of Health contacted Project HOPE’s in-country office last week to inform us about a rapid increase in the number of reported cholera cases in the country’s Northwest region known as the Artibonite River Valley.

Our emergency response was set in action. Project HOPE soon delivered its first shipment of relief supplies to the city of Desdunes, a city in the Artibonite River Valley with a population of 40,000.

The relief supplies, which included antibacterial hand gels, Pedialyte oral rehydration, Life Straw water purifiers and bottled drinking water, were gratefully received by the Ministry of Health staff in Desdunes.

The desperate need for something as basic as antibacterial hand gel was experienced, in person, by a member of the HOPE staff. After the delivery of humanitarian supplies, our team was on its way back to Port-au-Prince. When they stopped for food along the road, the store clerk came up and said, “Please save my life. Do you have any hand gel?”

Our staff member returned to the truck and collected his three personal bottles of hand gel and gave them to the clerk, who then gave two of the bottles to a young boy and girl. It was then that he understood how worried the people in the affected area are about the outbreak.

In addition to supplies, a six-person team of HOPE volunteers from the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston arrived this morning at L'hopital Albert Schweitzer in Deschapelles to augment our team of volunteers, already at the hospital, engaged in the care of cholera patients. Dr. Larry Ronan, a long-time HOPE volunteer, leads the MGH physicians and nurses.

As more details become available from our team in Haiti, I look forward to sharing them with you, through my blog and on the HOPE website.

Again, thank you for your support of HOPE’s emergency relief efforts for the many Haitians now in need.

Making a difference in the life of a child

2010-10-25T07:14:00.020-04:00

One thing that people around the world have in common is the desire to make a difference in the life of a child.

Whether it be in the United States, Tajikistan, Nicaragua, Indonesia, Haiti, China or in virtually every nation around the world, people care about the health and well being of the world’s most valuable resource – our children.

There are no geographic boundaries for this selfless, heartfelt desire to help children.

Over the last seven days, I’ve looked into the faces of hundreds of Chinese children. The hope in their eyes has overwhelmed my heart.

I met the parents of an 18-month-old boy, who had brought their son to the Shanghai Children’s Medical Center from Tibet, the furthest most, and one of the poorest regions in the west of China. Their son was born with a heart defect, and the doctors and nurses at the SCMC would soon correct the problem, making it possible for the young child to grow and lead a healthy life.

Hope and gratitude were the expressions I saw in the faces of the Tibetan couple. In the past, other children and other families from their village had traveled many hours, if not days, to come to the SCMC to receive similar care.

Having seen the life-changing results for the children from their village, the Tibetan parents I met were confident that the SCMC had the medical staff and capabilities to make a difference in the life of their precious son.

Since you could not travel with me in China, I want to share with you several pictures of the remarkable children that I encountered. I’m sure you will see, as I did, the tremendous hope and passion for life in their young faces.

Enjoy these images, and thank you for your support that has allowed Project HOPE to care for the world’s children for the past 52 years -- and into the future.

Heroes

2010-10-22T07:00:00.001-04:00

Today, I walked with heroes along the banks of the Huangpu River in Shanghai.

Most of these heroes stood no taller than the height of my waist, but their big hearts and enthusiasm for life were unmatched. I’m talking about a group of young cancer and heart disease patients who accompanied me to the World Expo along Shanghai’s Huangpu River.

Some of my physician colleagues at the Shanghai Children’s Medical Center may be upset with me when they learn that their young patients didn’t get much sleep the previous night due to their anticipation of visiting the Expo. However, as seen in the energy from this young group of patients, there were no side effects from sleep deprivation to be found.

With wide eyes and even wider smiles, the children were warmly greeted by the High Commissioner General of the USA Pavilion, Jose Villarreal. U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton personally selected Jose to direct the country’s presence at the 2010 Expo through the USA Pavilion.

Jose rolled out the red carpet for the children, giving them an experience of a lifetime, as they left their concerns behind at the hospital for the day. It was a highlight for me as well. I will never forget the joy on the children’s faces.

But there were other heroes in our Expo entourage as well. In fact, because of these heroes, some of the children with heart defects in our group are alive today.

These heroes go by the names of Dr. Richard Jonas, Dr. Henry Issenberg and Peggy Hicks, R.N. These three heroes, and others, came to Shanghai more than 15 years ago to begin training the surgeons and nurses who would staff the pediatric cardiac surgery program at the SCMC. The three heroes are here with me at the Expo to enjoy the experience with the children and to catch their breath before they begin a full agenda of meetings at the World Society for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery Conference at the SCMC.

Drs. Jonas and Issenberg, as well as Ms. Hicks, selflessly gave of their time and talents to make sure the children of China, particularly those with heart defects, had the opportunity to receive the care they needed, and deserved, at the hands of Chinese doctors and nurses.

Early on, this dynamic team of doctors and nurses from the U.S. frequently traveled to Shanghai to provide hands-on training to their Chinese peers. They also hosted the Chinese doctors and nurses at their respective hospitals back in the States for further training opportunities.

Their generosity and hard work paid off. In twelve short years, the American trainers watched their trainees flourish. Today, the SCMC is the #1 hospital in the world for pediatric cardiac surgery. And literally thousands of lives, including the lives of some of the children in our group at the Expo, have been saved.

Welcome Home

2010-10-21T07:04:00.008-04:00

“Welcome home.”

This phrase, as it appeared on the screen, made me pause and reflect as I sat in a meeting room at the Shanghai Children’s Medical Center nearly 7,500 miles away from my home in Washington, D.C. But as I pondered the phase, I thought to myself, “I am home.”

For the past ten years, I’ve visited my Shanghai “home,” also known as the Shanghai Children’s Medical Center, at least once a year. I have watched the hospital grow, develop and mature into the world’s #1 children’s hospital for pediatric cardiac surgery.

Last year, the dedicated surgeons at the SCMC, most of them trained through Project HOPE programs, performed more than 3,000 pediatric heart surgeries. To put this accomplishment into perspective, the largest program in the United States does nearly 1,000 pediatric heart surgeries in one year.

My Shanghai home has had many visitors. In 2009, more than 1.1 million children and their families walked through the doors for care at the SCMC. In addition, nearly 7,900 surgeries were performed on children.

Also, 44 children received bone marrow transplants at the SCMC – the highest number of any children’s hospital in China. And because more and more children from China and Asia are coming to the SCMC for cancer treatment, there will soon be a new addition to my Shanghai home – a seven-story oncology tower that will have more than 125 beds.

But that is just the beginning of the expansion plans now on the drawing board for my Shanghai home. My longtime friend, Jiang Zhongyi, Secretary of the Party Committee for the SCMC, shared with me an ambitious and visionary five-year plan for the hospital.

Over the next five years, the SCMC will continue to advance its three core programs in pediatric cardiology, pediatric oncology and hematology, as well as pediatric development and behavioral medicine. In addition, the hospital will expand its research capabilities and add another 500 clinical care beds. All this, with the goal of becoming China’s – if not Asia’s – leading children’s hospital by 2020.

When I think of “homes,” I often think of families. As my dear friend Mr. Jiang reminded me, Project HOPE and the SCMC are family.

Mr. Jiang then told me a touching story. He said that each new SCMC family member, whether they be a physician, nurse, technician or administrator, must visit the statue of Dr. William Walsh, Project HOPE’s founder, which sits on the SCMC grounds just next to the Cardiology Tower.

There the new family member reads this inscription, “Dr. William B. Walsh: Doctor, Teacher, and Friend to the World.” With that powerful and moving thought in mind, the new SCMC family member can then begin work at this very special institution.

A Hospital at the Heart of a City's Rebirth

2010-10-20T07:39:00.019-04:00

Two weeks after the Sichuan Province earthquake in May 2008, Project HOPE Chairman Dr. Charles Sanders and I visited Du Jiang Yan City, located less than an hour from the quake’s epicenter, and saw firsthand the tragic devastation.

A little more than one year after the quake, I returned to Du Jiang Yan City. Rubble from the destruction was still visible. I toured a temporary hospital still brimming with patients from the local community. But I also saw the roots of the reconstruction beginning to emerge.

Now, as the van I ride in approaches Du Jiang Yan City, I see a new, modern, vibrant and blossoming city. The scars from the terrible quake virtually erased. And at the heart of the city’s rebirth is the beautiful Du Jiang Yan People’s Hospital.

Built on 100 acres, the 650-bed hospital was recognized by China’s President Hu as one of the best hospitals in China. The facility was even awarded a prestigious architecture award given to only a handful of buildings throughout China.

The Du Jiang Yan Hospital is also home to a state-of-the art rehabilitation center nearly 100 percent furnished by Project HOPE. I met three inspirational patients in the unit, who suffered injuries as a result of the 2008 earthquake – two of the patients were injured the day of the quake and the third was a young volunteer who was injured in a mudslide, while assisting earthquake survivors. All three were extremely optimistic about their futures and grateful for the care they are receiving at the center.

Not available prior to the earthquake, the rehabilitation medicine center now benefits the Du Jiang Yan community and region at large. I talked to two men in the center who were rehabilitating from stroke. In both cases, the strokes may have been caused by hypertension – a chronic condition that is a growing concern throughout China. In addition, the center is combining Western medicine with traditional Chinese medicine to enhance patient outcomes.

The Pediatric Unit was my next stop on the hospital tour. Eight doctors and nurses on staff were graduates of HOPE’s Rural Fellow Training Program or trainees from the Abbott Fund Institute of Nutrition Science. I met two Fellows who beamed as they shared stories about training and how it helped them improve the care they provided to children.

As I left the Unit, I was overwhelmed by a show-stopping smile of a seven-year-old girl. The fever and aches caused by the flu could not stifle her smile. Her infectious optimism demonstrated for me the tremendous resiliency of the people of Sichuan Province.

To assist in the rebuilding efforts of Du Jiang Yan City, not long ago, Shanghai government officials provided more than $1 billion. Recently, as Shanghai officials left Du Jiang Yan City after their last reconstruction meeting, City residents lined the streets for 10 miles waving their hands in an expression of gratitude. They truly have much to be thankful for.

Spreading HOPE Through Lifesaving Medical Training

2010-10-19T09:20:00.007-04:00

As I entered the Great Hall at Shanghai Children’s Medical Center, I was taken by surprise by what I heard. No, it was not the commotion of the more than 900,000 children and their families who receive care at the hospital each year. It was the music of Chopin played on a grand piano.

A talented Fudan university student volunteers her time each week to turn the Great Hall into a concert hall. And by the expressions on the faces of the parents and their children, the music was a welcome distraction.

My real purpose for visiting the SCMC was to meet a special group of doctors and nurses who have come to the hospital from virtually every corner of China to participate in a year-long training program coordinated by Project HOPE.

Called the Rural Fellows Training Program, 25 doctors and nurses leave their home hospitals, and their families, to be trained in advanced medical techniques. Over the past eight years, Project HOPE and the SCMC staff have trained more than 200 rural fellows.

When the fellows return to their hospitals, not only do they bring new experiences and skills to improve patient care, but also knowledge to share with their colleagues. In fact, the train-the-trainer model is one reason why rural fellows chose to enlist in the program.

One doctor in this year’s class comes from China’s autonomous prefecture near the North Korea border called Yanbian. She caught me off guard, when I asked her what the most common ailment was in her hometown. Her response: vitamin D deficiency. She explained that in China’s northern regions the days were short and people often don’t get enough sunlight.

However, when I inquired of her classmates what illnesses they see most often, a familiar nemesis reappeared – pneumonia. Just as I saw in Honduras and Nicaragua last month, pneumonia is a significant problem throughout China, from the northwestern Province of Xinjiang that borders Kazakhstan to the southernmost Province Guangzi as reported by the Rural Fellows I met with.

Also, I met a heroic nurse who was one of the first responders to this year’s 6.9 magnitude earthquake that struck her home province of Qinghai. She expressed gratitude to be part of the Rural Fellows program and is looking forward to taking her new skills, such as advanced life support training, back to her colleagues so that they will be better prepared to face another natural disaster.

Just as the piano music in SCMC’s Great Hall warmed my heart, I left the hospital at the end of the day with a sense of pride knowing that Project HOPE’s lifesaving influence is spreading across China and the more than 37 countries around the world where there is HOPE.

John

The Power of Partnerships Helps Children and Families

2010-10-18T09:06:00.012-04:00

It is easy to be intimidated by the numbers in China.

• 1.3 billion – Population of China, the most populous country in the world.
• 20 million – Approximate population of Shanghai, the largest city in the world and the first stop on my visit to China.
• 1.032 million – Attendance at the Shanghai World Expo on my first full day in the city. This number represents the largest single-day attendance since the Expo opened in May of this year and the largest single-day attendance in the history of World Expos.

Impressive numbers, absolutely – but in those numbers lay tremendous opportunity for Project HOPE and our partners.

On my first day in Shanghai, I had the privilege to open the Abbott Nutrition Forum that was attended by more than 100 physicians, nurses and dieticians from across China – some traveling as many as six hours by air to be in attendance.

The Forum celebrated the tremendous success of a powerful partnership between the Abbott Fund, Shanghai Children’s Medical Center and Project HOPE, known as the Abbott Fund Institute of Nutrition Science (AFINS).

Speaking of numbers, the AFINS has delivered very impressive results in the first three years of the partnership.

• 50,000 – Children and families who have benefitted from educational materials prepared by the AFINS.
• 1,500 – Health care professionals who have received nutrition training at the AFINS and who have returned to their hospitals to train thousands more.
• 35 – Number of hospitals throughout China represented by the AFINS trainees.
• 17 – Chinese provinces that trainees have come from to attend the AFINS training.

While these numbers too are impressive, I am reminded that it is the individual – the doctor, the nurse, the mother or the child –that ultimately benefits from our programs.

At the Abbott Nutrition Forum, I shared the story of Dr. Li Huai-Yu, the Vice Director of the Pediatric Emergency Department at Ningxia Medical University, who recently completed nutritional training at the AFINS.

Upon returning to his hospital, Dr. Li treated a three-year-old child suffering from dehydration caused by frequent diarrhea. The child did not respond to previous remedies, and the situation was worsening. Because of Dr. Li’s training, he correctly diagnosed a milk allergy. He immediately changed the child’s diet, and the child’s health improved rapidly.

Yes, the numbers in China may be daunting. But I am optimistic and encouraged by the potential health benefits that HOPE brings to China and to the world. With dedicated partners like Abbott, together we can influence the “one” who then will improve the lives of millions through increased knowledge and enhanced care.

John

HOPE in China

2010-10-15T08:03:00.001-04:00

This year has been an especially inspiring one for me. I have had the privilege of visiting some of HOPE’s program sites around the world to meet with patients, their physicians and nurses, as well as donors, ministers of health and heads of state, to assess the impact of our lifesaving work. Earlier this year, I visited Haiti, Honduras and Nicaragua. Today, I'm en route to China.

For more than 25 years, volunteers and staff from Project HOPE have addressed some of China’s most pressing health needs including children’s heart defects, diabetes, HIV/AIDS and nursing education. We have also provided support in times of natural disasters, including emergency relief efforts and long-term recovery work following the massive 2008 earthquake in China’s Sichuan Province.

Our China Rehabilitation Medicine Program, launched in 2009, is increasing both the accessibility and quality of rehabilitation services for the more than 70,000 injured in the earthquake-affected areas of the Sichuan Province, as well as contributing to the improvement of rehabilitation services throughout China.

I plan to visit one our rehabilitative medicine sites in Du Jiang Yan, while in China. I also plan to visit with beneficiaries at the Shanghai Children’s Medical Center and also talk with experts about our continuing nutrition work now benefiting children and their families nationwide.

I hope you will join me in the coming days, albeit online. You, too, will be inspired by what we will experience together, from Shanghai to Sichuan Province.

John

Long-term Sustainability Witnessed in Nicaragua

2010-09-28T10:28:00.010-04:00

While I saw first-hand the long-term impact of our pneumococcal vaccine program among Nicaraguans in the Managua region, a team of Project HOPE volunteer doctors and nurses were making a difference in the lives of hundreds of Nicaraguans in the remote coastal town of Bluefields.

For ten days, beginning September 16th, HOPE volunteers, along with Navy medical personnel on board the USS Iwo Jima, have provided health care and health education to Nicaraguans in need, as part of the 2010 Continuing Promise humanitarian outreach program. (I hope you have been following the daily blogs from our volunteers on the ship.)

This 2010 Continuing Promise mission is the twentieth humanitarian assistance mission that HOPE has partnered with the U.S. Navy since the response to the Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2005. Since then, HOPE volunteers, Navy medical personnel and representatives from other NGOs have cared for more than 550,000 patients and provided health education to more than 115,000 doctors, nurses and other health care workers.

In Bluefields, HOPE volunteers have seen more than 600 patients daily and provided health education classes on topics such as diabetes, hypertension, women’s health and basic hygiene to more than 300 people each day.

Anne Borden, MPH, RN, is one HOPE volunteer who is teaching patients to better manage their chronic diseases. Anne tells her students that the burden of a chronic disease, such as diabetes, may be heavy. But the knowledge gained by learning to live with the disease stays with you forever and helps you to better manage it.

Back in Managua, I had the pleasure of meeting the U.S. Ambassador to Nicaragua, Robert Callahan. Ambassador Callahan has visited the USS Iwo Jima and witnessed the truly heroic humanitarian work of the HOPE volunteers and U.S. Navy personnel. I listened as the Ambassador and USAID Director for Nicaragua, Norma Parker, shared their support of a healthier Nicaragua through humanitarian aid initiatives.

Humanitarian aid is often believed to be only related to disaster relief efforts. Yet, this aid comes in many forms, as I have mentioned. A common thread in the humanitarian aid programs HOPE delivers, whether it be in response to a natural disaster or a pressing health challenge – is long-term sustainability. This is being seen in Nicaragua today.

John

Informing Nicaraguans About Pneumococcal Vaccine

2010-09-27T11:01:00.009-04:00

I was an unexpected visitor in the homes of Nicaraguans, throughout the country, last Friday morning.

As a guest on the top-rated Nicaraguan morning show Primer Plano with its host, Adolfo Pastran, my message about Project HOPE was beamed into households across the country.

The focus of my message was to let Nicaraguans know about the pneumococcal vaccine program HOPE is conducting with the Nicaragua Ministry of Health, thanks to the generous donation of 1 million doses of vaccine from Merck & Co., Inc.

Communication is a critical element of any public health campaign. While ensuring that 1 million Nicaraguans will not develop pneumonia – Latin America’s #1 killer – is a monumental task, it will not achieve its objective without awareness of the program.

After my live 30-minute interview on Primer Plano, I returned to my hotel for a media briefing with several Nicaraguan television, newspaper and magazine reporters. I spent more than two hours with the reporters enlisting their support to make sure as many Nicaraguans as possible become aware of this vaccine initiative.

One reporter with whom I met with was Oscar Miranda Uriarte, perhaps the most recognized media personality in Nicaragua. Oscar said that 44 years ago he stood on the dock at Corinto reporting as a young journalist on the visit of the SS HOPE to Nicaragua. He told me that on that first historic visit, many Nicaraguans thought the SS HOPE belonged to the country’s First Family because at the time the First Lady’s name was Hope.

I also met with a young magazine journalist, Esther Pirado, from NICASALUD, the country’s organization of NGOs of which HOPE is a member. Esther is the daughter a nurse who received training from the American volunteer nurses aboard the SS HOPE in 1966. To this day, Esther’s mother, as well as the other Nicaraguan doctors and nurses who received training on the SS HOPE, still come together to share stories about their life-changing experience.

One observation made in my blogs from Honduras, holds true in Nicaragua as well. And that is the high caliber of the HOPE staff. Though smaller in number than their Honduras colleagues, the Nicaragua HOPE staff is accomplishing great things with its limited resources.

Under the direction of Dr. Mario Ortega, who has been among the leadership of HOPE Nicaragua for 15 years, the organization is well respected among the country’s health care leaders. So respected are HOPE and Dr. Ortega, that he has been asked to join a Pan American Health Organization team to conduct a countrywide assessment of vaccination programs. This is an immense honor for Dr. Ortega and HOPE.

HOPE’s objective in Nicaragua is to provide sustainable health care programs to address the country’s most pressing health care challenges. With the expertise of the HOPE staff, and with the support of the Nicaragua Ministry of Health, there are no limits to what we can accomplish together.

John

Renewing old relationships and forming new ones

2010-09-24T09:34:00.013-04:00

Life is about relationships. And as far as relationships go, today was a banner day. New relationships were formed, and old ones renewed.

Along a winding, narrow, rocky road on the top of a mountain about two hours outside of Managua sits a small community called San Pedro. The people of San Pedro are fortunate in having a community health clinic operated by the Nicaraguan Ministry of Health. This is the setting where several new relationships were created today.

Dr. Samir Aguilar Parrales is the head of the MOH Regional Office in the Nicaraguan state of Chontales, where San Pedro is located. Dr. Parrales is passionate about seeing that Nicaraguans receive the best care possible. This was obvious as we watched him interact with members of the community.

Dr. Parrales greeted me warmly, and there was an instant connection. He said that words could not express the gratitude he felt toward Project HOPE and Merck for the generous donation of 1 million doses of PNEUMOVAX vaccine to protect people over age 50 from the pneumococcal organism, the leading cause of pneumonia.

Dr. Parrales gave me a tour of the bare three-room clinic. He introduced me to his dedicated nursing staff and to the gregarious Don Mario, the community’s leader. Don Mario was trained by the clinic’s staff to encourage San Pedro’s residents to get vaccinated. Don Mario, another new-found friend, is very persuasive. While at the clinic, I witnessed one of his community members being vaccinated.

Less than six weeks into the campaign, nearly 80,000 men and women over 50 have been vaccinated throughout Nicaragua. With spirited leaders like Dr. Parrales, the program will succeed and 1 million Nicaraguans will be less likely to develop pneumonia – Latin America’s #1 killer.

Today also brought the renewal of a relationship that is near and dear to my heart, as I sat down with a great leader and friend, Nicaragua’s Vice President Jaime Morales.

I met the Vice President when on my first visit to Nicaragua three years ago. We were standing on the dock at Corinto waiting for a helicopter to take us to the USNS Comfort where we would visit HOPE volunteer physicians and nurses. As we stood looking at the great white hospital ship in the distance, Jaime turned to me and said this was an emotional moment. Forty-one years earlier, he had stood on the same spot waiting to visit the original great white hospital ship, the SS HOPE. Then and there, a bond was formed between us.

Jaime has a warm smile and a countenance that exudes wisdom. It brought me no small amount of joy to share news of another group of HOPE volunteers, now aboard the USS Iwo Jima, treating Nicaraguans in need and, as well, to update him on our vaccination program.

Life is about relationships. Be they new or existing, relationships enrich our lives and give us the ability to do more for others – like make a difference in the lives of millions of Nicaraguans.

John

HOPE in Nicaragua

2010-09-23T09:34:00.009-04:00

Throw a stone any direction in Nicaragua, and it will land on a health care challenge. Dr. Jorge Luis Prosperi, who heads the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) here in Managua, used these words to describe the health status of the country.

Dr. Prosperi has a valid point. Suicide among Nicaragua’s young people is a growing concern. Accidents on the roads are increasingly taking more lives. Pneumonia is the #1 killer in Latin American and a leading cause of death in Nicaragua.

Despite these and other alarming trends, I would offer a slight variation on Dr. Prosperi’s observation. Throw a stone any direction in Nicaragua, and it will fall on someone trying to address a major health care problem.

I will now demonstrate what I mean.

Throughout the past 44 years, Project HOPE has been addressing health care challenges in Nicaragua. Recently, HOPE and the Nicaragua Minister of Health launched an aggressive countrywide immunization program to protect adults over age 50 from the pneumococcal organism, a leading cause of pneumonia. The program is made possible by a generous donation of 1 million doses of the vaccine PNEUMOVAX from Merck & Co., Inc.

Today, Eduardo Cortes, Managing Director of Merck’s Central America and Dominican Republic Region, joined me in going to the homes of three special people in Granada, an hour’s drive from Managua, who had received the PNEUMOVAX vaccine – Jose, Isabel and Juanita. Isabel told Eduardo that he and his Merck colleagues have earned “a special place in heaven” because of this donation.

PAHO is another example of an organization marshalling its resources to make a difference in Nicaragua. Its health workers, under the leadership of Dr. Prosperi, can be found in each of the 17 Nicaraguan states, developing and implementing programs to improve the health of women and children.

Finally, Dr. Sonia Castro, Nicaragua’s Minister of Health, is leading a full-court press to address her country’s most pressing health needs. Don’t be fooled by her ever-present smile. Behind Dr. Castro’s smile is a passionate and determined leader who is driving the health care agenda of the country’s President, Daniel Ortega. Top on her list of priorities are:

• Emphasizing “human warmth” in health care
• Making access to health care a right for all Nicaraguans
• Improving health care to women and children

You can see there are a number of health professionals, as well as organizations, standing shoulder to shoulder addressing Nicaragua’s health challenges. And HOPE is one of them, looking forward to continuing its 44-year legacy in the country for years to come.

Check back for more tomorrow,

John

Dedication Brings HOPE to Honduras

2010-09-22T08:50:00.007-04:00

For more than 28 years – more than half of the 52 years Project HOPE has been in existence – HOPE has shared health education and humanitarian assistance with the people of Honduras. While we have made great strides in advancing health in this Central American nation, our work here is yet unfinished.

After Haiti, Honduras is the second poorest country in Latin America and the Caribbean region. Nearly 65 percent of Hondurans live in poverty. Forty-two percent are considered living in extreme poverty.

Despite the poverty, as I look into the faces and hear the voices of the Honduran people, I see and hear hope. A hope that Project HOPE is uniquely positioned to deliver. Why am I so optimistic about the future of HOPE in Honduras? Let me tell you why.

For 23 of the 28 years HOPE has been in Honduras, our current Country Director, Marco Antonio Suazo, has had his steady hand in our work here. From coordinating humanitarian relief efforts in response to the devastation from Hurricane Mitch in 1998, to overseeing a successful HIV/AIDS prevention program, to leading the successful Village Health Banks program, Marco has his eye focused and heart open to implementing the best possible health programs for his fellow Hondurans.

And Marco is not alone in his commitment to Honduras. The average tenure of HOPE’s senior leadership in Honduras is 18-20 years. And several of the “younger” HOPE staff members joined the HOPE family after graduating from our Village Health Banks – a testament that our micro-lending program is working in giving new opportunities to the women and their families who participate.

Along with the HOPE Honduras staff, I know another Honduran deeply dedicated to the health of his country – Honduras’s Minister of Health Dr. Arturo Bendana Pinel. How do I know this? I sat with Dr. Pinel in his office at 10 p.m. discussing what we could do together to make a difference in the lives of Hondurans.

In between his meetings with the President of Honduras and running a number of the country’s health care programs, Dr. Pinel still practices Obstetrics and Gynecology. He is very supportive of HOPE’s programs for women and children, and is particularly pleased with the success of our Village Health Banks program. I look forward to working with Dr. Pinel to address several of the country’s health challenges.

With a heavy heart, I leave Honduras. But I leave with confidence – in both the HOPE staff and in the Honduran health care leadership - that our work will continue to make a difference for years to come.

Now, it’s on to Nicaragua for the second chapter in my Central America visit.

John

Tortillas of HOPE and Health

2010-09-21T08:49:00.010-04:00

I have traveled the world with Project HOPE. I have seen many of the world’s health challenges first hand. But today, I did something I’ve never done before in my life. I made a tortilla!

What does making a tortilla have to do with global health? Well, I made the tortilla with a new friend Candida. Candida is a grandmother and member of Project HOPE’s Village Health Banks, our micro-lending program. Like some of the women I introduced you to in yesterday’s blog, Candida’s life and health have changed because of the generosity of Joe and Teresa Long – major supporters of HOPE’s program in Honduras.

Candida is one of the hardest working women I know. She rises every day at 5:30 a.m. and makes more than 1,000 tortillas each day… seven days a week… 365 days a year. The math is easy. That’s more than 365,000 tortillas a year. In between making tortillas, Candida attends the health training provided by HOPE and makes sure her family and other women in her community benefit from her training.

Speaking of friends, today I met a courageous young man who is battling testicular cancer at the Emma Romero de Callejas National Cancer Center. Diego was in the last year of medical school when he was diagnosed with cancer. Diego is studying to be a pediatrician and shares my passion to help children through education and access to care. We made a promise that when Diego defeats his cancer, he will visit me at Project HOPE, and together we will make plans to help the children of Honduras.

While at the Cancer Center, I also met Dr. Flora Duarte who told me about a quiet crisis afflicting women in Honduras. Cervical cancer accounts for more than 23 percent of all cancers – the highest prevalence of any cancer in country. I was distressed by this information, but inspired by Dr. Duarte’s dedication to address the challenge. I assured Dr. Duarte that HOPE would explore intersections of interest among our many corporate partners to assist her in her efforts to make a difference in the lives of Honduran women.

During my visit to Honduras, I have been impressed by the dedication and determination of the country’s health professionals. Dr. Duarte and Dr. Hugo Godoy, the Hospital Director at Hospital Maria, a soon-to-be 178-bed children’s hospital on a hill overlooking Tegucigalpa, with whom I met today, both received advanced medical training in the United States. Yet both chose to return to Honduras to improve the lives of thousands in their home country. It is with dedicated health professionals like Drs. Duarte and Godoy that HOPE will be working with in the future to enhance health education and care for the people of Honduras.

Check back for more tomorrow,

John

Witnessing HOPE's Impact in Honduras

2010-09-20T08:48:00.013-04:00

At the top of one of Tegucigalpa's seemingly countless hills, I met some of the most extraordinary and inspiring women. These exceptional women came from very humble circumstances and have built small businesses through their participation in Project HOPE's Village Health Banks micro-lending program.

I had the pleasure of meeting nearly 20 of these women to hear their inspirational stories. A woman named Pradith told me she was one of the original HOPE Village Health Bank members when the program started in Honduras 17 years ago. With her micro-loan, Pradith grew her business from selling fruit and candy on the street to now operating two small buffet-style restaurants and a fried chicken stand.

Two other women I met with shared something in common - both had had their lives changed because of a generous donation to support the Village Health Banks program from HOPE supporters Joe and Teresa Long. The first woman, Mirian, told me how she was able to save the money she made by selling clothes to pay for critical laboratory tests and an MRI scan for her daughter who suffers from epilepsy. Mirian had sought loans from other institutions to fund her business, but had always been turned down because she lived in a high-crime neighborhood. Through HOPE's Village Health Banks, Mirian found an organization that believed in her and gave her the confidence she needed, not to mention a low-interest loan - to help her fulfill her dream.

I then heard the incredible story of Yolanda - another beneficiary of the Long's generosity. Yolanda spends her entire day each Wednesday making tamales. Then beginning at 6 a.m. through 9 p.m. on Thursday, she sells her tamales to federal workers at the congressional offices in Tegucigalpa. Yolanda has five children. The loan she received helped her get her business off the ground. Now, with a gleam in her eye, she told me she can pay her bills and buy the food and medicines her children need to lead healthy lives.

Following my conversations with these exceptional women, I witnessed their dedication to the health of their community at a health fair they organized. More than 200 women and children in the El Carrizal community received eye exams and eyeglasses, breast and cervical cancer screenings, diabetes screenings and blood pressure checks.

The day ended at the HOPE office in Tegucigalpa where Pfizer Fellow Eduardo Heidelberg presented his recommendations on taking the Village Health Banks in Honduras to the next level. HOPE programs around the world have benefited from the knowledge and expertise of Pfizer employees who have graciously lent their talents to enhance the organization. Eduardo's keen insight and first-hand observations will contribute to the success of our Village Health Banks program for years to come.

Over the past 17 years, HOPE's micro-lending program has invested more than $40 million to help improve the lives of more than 24,000 women and their families. If only you could have seen the faces of the women and their families that I saw today. You would agree that this investment is paying dividends in healthier lives and stronger families. Not a bad investment.

Check back for more tomorrow,

John

Visiting HOPE sites in Honduras and Nicaragua

2010-09-17T11:38:00.007-04:00

I hope you can join me virtually as I visit Project HOPE sites in Honduras and Nicaragua next week.

Over the past 17 years, Project HOPE has helped more than 24,000 women and their families through our Village Health Banks – a micro-lending program. I will meet with some of the women whose lives have changed as a result of the program. I look forward to sharing their stories with you.

In 1966, the SS HOPE docked in Corinto, Nicaragua, beginning a 44-year relationship with the people of this important Central American country.

Recently, thanks to a generous donation of 1 million doses of a pneumonia vaccine from Merck & Co., Inc., HOPE launched a campaign in collaboration with the Nicaragua Ministry of Health to vaccinate men and women with chronic diseases. I will share first-hand updates with you, from one of the vaccination locations.

While I wish you could join me in person, I hope you will join me online to see how your support is making a difference in the lives of the people of Honduras and Nicaragua.

I’ll see you online.

John

World Humanitarian Day

2010-08-19T00:18:00.002-04:00

As we celebrate the second annual World Humanitarian Day, our attention at Project HOPE naturally turns to the many volunteers and staff who have made relief efforts possible in places such as Haiti.

When the earthquake struck Haiti, doctors and nurses put aside their hospital duties, their private practices, their family vacations, to respond to this acute crisis.

The brief spotlight that shined on Haiti in the weeks after the tragedy exposed immense critical need, but it also reminded us of the country’s chronic, more “quiet” condition. If January 12th was the date that sent the country to the emergency room, then now is the time when Haiti’s caregivers must decide how to treat the chronic secondary condition diagnosed in the process.

This condition is seen in the thousands of amputees now in need of rehabilitation, as well as the widespread tuberculosis prevalent in the mountain regions and HIV in the valley populations, and in the young women dying in childbirth for lack of medical care.

The situation is serious. The very pipeline of future Haitian doctors and nurses is in peril. Hundreds of nursing students lost their lives when the nursing school, on the grounds of the country’s only public teaching hospital, collapsed. The nearby medical school was also largely reduced to rubble. And the hospital itself, which long served as the “safety net” hospital for the poor of Port-au-Prince, is now operating at less than 50 percent capacity, with many of its major facilities closed.

The prescription?

It will not be found in the well intentioned but "stand alone" efforts. Carlene Dei, USAID country director for Haiti, estimates that there are over 9,000 NGOs now working in the country, 80 percent of which are not collaborating with the U.S. Embassy and other NGOs. There must be a “whole community” effort if there is to be progress.

The effort must involve Haitian doctors, nurses and other health care workers. Hôpital Albert Schweitzer in Deschappelles, Haiti, embraces the philosophy of increasing and expanding local capacity and has become one of the two leading centers for trauma-related surgical amputations and subsequent rehabilitation in Haiti—a shining example for the rest of the country to follow. To continue to be able to move forward in this way, the pipeline of future doctors and nurses must be repaired.

Just recently, I witnessed an outstanding response to the current "quiet crisis," now happening in Haiti. I saw the sailors of the USS Iwo Jima and volunteer doctors and nurses from non-governmental organizations, including Project HOPE, working side-by-side with their Haitian counterparts, engaged in treating those in medical need in Port-au-Paix, a city on the country's north coast.

It was a model of the "whole of community" approach to care that the ship's Commodore, Captain Tom Negus likened to the process of weaving a tapestry—integrating professionals from an array of specialties with the local needs of the patients.

All of these individuals, as well as those working behind the scene, making a difference in the lives of those in need, deserve our heartfelt salute on this day.

Photos by Project HOPE PAOs Astrid Riecken, Allison Shelley, and Eric Campbell

Haitian Doctors and Nurses: The Next Generation

2010-08-03T07:00:00.001-04:00

In late May, Dr. Louis Sullivan, former Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and current Project HOPE Board member, and Dr. Ruben Pamies, Dean for Graduate Studies at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, asked to meet with me in Washington. They expressed a deep concern for the next generation of Haitian physicians and nurses, in light of the damage suffered by the medical and nursing schools in Port-au-Prince.

They asked Project HOPE to join in assessing the current capacity of Haiti’s health professions education – in the context of the future need for health care in the country. Two days ago, we visited the medical school, Universite D'Etat D'Haiti, which has been largely reduced to rubble. Today, we went to the site of a former nursing school on the grounds of the teaching hospital, Hopital Universite D'Etat D'Haiti, also known as General Hospital. What we saw was breathtaking. The nursing school building had been leveled – now replaced by UNICEF tents. Hundreds of nursing students lost their lives, when the school collapsed.

General Hospital, which long served as the “safety net” hospital for the poor of Port-au-Prince, is a shadow of its former self. What was once an 800-bed facility was reduced to a 300-bed capacity. Major buildings (general surgery clinic, inpatient women’s internal medicine, outpatient clinics and pediatrics) are shuttered. In the face of this, the need for urgent care continues on.

Nick Lobel-Weiss, Executive Director of Global Emergency Relief based in New York City, and secunded to the General Hospital, gave a most compelling example. A twenty-nine year-old woman with active tuberculosis, now in her 29th week of pregnancy, was in the midst of being transferred from the teaching hospital to the Adventist Hospital in the Diquini neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, which had been spared from major earthquake damage.

We met Dr. Megan Coffee, an infectious disease fellow from the University of California, San Francisco. She arrived in Port-au-Prince in late January -- and has been involved in round-the-clock care of critically ill patients since then. She told us of the high prevalence of post-partum, dilated myocardiopathy, not often seen in the U.S. These patients can present with an admitting diagnosis of tuberculosis when, in fact, their chest X-ray findings are those of heart failure. Here at General Hospital, earlier today, a 22-year-old woman was found sitting bolt upright gasping for air, due to this underlying heart problem.

Later in our visit, the director of pharmacy shared her gratitude for the medicines and medical supplies, donated by HOPE. She cited IV fluids from B. Braun and lidocaine from Hospira. We were later joined by two of the Haitian biomedical engineers who helped prepare HOPE’s assessment of medical equipment, requested by the Minister of Health after the earthquake, at six of the largest hospitals in Port-au-Prince.

Dr. Sullivan and Pamies are right – health professions education is at risk here in Haiti. Its future supply of physicians and nurses, and hence the future of country’s health care, is in question. While the focus of recent months has been on the acute crisis (post-earthquake trauma) and more recently, the quiet crisis (tuberculosis and diabetes), the unseen crisis (health professions education) is now at hand. The right prescription for returning Haiti to an adequate supply of physicians and nurses needs to be written as soon as possible. The health of Haitians, now and in the future, will be the beneficiary.

HOPE's Legacy Lives On

2010-08-02T06:00:00.002-04:00

On the USNS Iwo Jima, three miles off the white sand coast of Port-au-Paix in northern Haiti, the berths are filled with doctors and nurses, engineers and electricians from the U.S. and countries around the world, now engaged in the Navy mission Continuing Promise.

Its mission—to train U.S. personnel, military and civilian, for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief—is the twentieth for Project HOPE and the Navy. What began with the tsunami, and 210 Project HOPE medical staff on the USNS Mercy, continues to this day aboard the Iwo Jima, where four separate Project HOPE rotations of volunteer doctors and nurses will be involved in its entire four-month deployment in Latin America.

The waters of the Caribbean are too deep for the ship to drop anchor at its current location, so it slowly moves in a square pattern at two knots – an appropriate metaphor for its always-in-motion schedule, one which will include eight countries, with visits of about ten days each.

Mission Commander, Captain Tom Negus, told us that this is the best experience of his Navy career, as he brings together people to deal with the most challenging of issues facing the region. Negus likened the process to weaving a tapestry—integrating professionals from a wide array of disciplines with the needs of the community.

From 5:00am to 7:00pm, seven days a week, the men and women of the Iwo Jima, including volunteers from HOPE and those of other non-governmental organizations, are reaching out to Haitians in need -- on the ship and on shore. These settings include clinics offering medicine and surgery, as well as operating rooms for eye and general surgery. Each day, over 600 men, women and children are the beneficiaries.

Earlier today, HOPE volunteer and internist Mike Polifka, now in his seventh Navy/HOPE rotation, cared for a young woman with swelling in her right leg. In the U.S., this finding might have been confused with venous insufficiency, swelling related to inadequate return of blood to the heart. Not so in Haiti, thanks to Dr. Polifka. He made the diagnosis of elephantiasis (filariasis) -- an infection involving the lymphatic system rarely seen in the U.S. The antibiotics that he prescribed will improve her life dramatically.

Port-au-Paix Mayor Charles Guillet Salvador came to the clinic this afternoon -- to personally thank Dr. Polifka and his Navy and HOPE colleagues. He spoke, in grateful terms, of the profound impact that the Iwo Jima is having on the people of Port-au-Paix. When the ship leaves in a week, they will have a different view, positive at that, of America.

All of this is in perfect keeping with the proud traditions of the first ship on which HOPE volunteers served: namely, the Consolation, a Navy hospital ship, painted white and renamed the SS HOPE in 1960. Its legacy lives on, here in Haiti, on the Iwo Jima.

Intersection of Interests

2010-08-01T08:55:00.040-04:00

For many weeks after the January 12th earthquake, the daily sound of chopper blades filled the quiet town of Milot, Haiti, as a 40-bed hospital swelled to serve 600 patients during helicopter airlifts to the Hopital Sacre Couer.

Sacre Couer has served the community of Milot, with a population of 35,000, since 1977, with additional referrals coming from Cap Haitian, the second largest city in Haiti. The hospital--whose specialty services, from complicated deliveries to neurosurgery, are renowned--has earned its place in history for its response to the first major earthquake to hit the country in many generations. And Project HOPE was at the heart of this effort.

Many of the earthquake-affected patients were transferred from the USNS Comfort where rotations of HOPE volunteer doctors and nurses were hard at work. They were admitted to the hospital where they benefited from the best of HOPE’s corporate partnerships.

For example, in the neonatal unit, dehydrated infants received Hospira fluids. In the intensive care unit, the sickest of patients were monitored by Siemens equipment. In the operating room, patients underwent surgery with the latest in cardiac monitoring from Philips. And throughout the hospital complex, patients and staff alike enjoyed clean water made possible by a solar-powered purification system from DynGlobal.

As I have mentioned in recent postings, I believe that in the direst of tragedies, the best outcomes are those made possible by not one but many heroes. In Haiti, these heroes were on the Comfort with its Navy and Project HOPE doctors and nurses, among the U.S. Marines making around the clock airlifts, within the staff at Sacre Couer, and found in the generosity of U.S.-based health care corporations. Each of these heroes joined HOPE in putting a face on America’s humanity.

Shared Beginnings

2010-07-31T09:07:00.001-04:00

As I look around at the lush, green mountains that surround the Hôpital Albert Schweitzer in Deschappelles, Haiti, I can’t help but be reminded of a similar pastoral setting many thousands of miles away— the Project HOPE headquarters in Millwood, Virginia. A country apart, the hospital and HOPE share in an often-intertwined vision of humanitarian aid and health education.

That the two organizations have led such parallel lives throughout the years is not a coincidence. Indeed, they were founded within two years of each other: Hôpital Albert Schweitzer (HAS) in 1956 by Dr. and Mrs. Lawrence Mellon, while Project HOPE was founded in 1958. A generous donation in 1977 by Rachel “Bunny” Mellon helped make possible the Project HOPE headquarters at Carter Hall, her childhood home in Virginia.

Fast forward to 2010. After the January 12th earthquake, HAS became one of the two leading centers for trauma-related surgical amputations and subsequent rehabilitation-- thanks to the generosity of the Hanger corporation (whose headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland is just steps away from our Health Affairs Journal offices).

In keeping with our shared mission, HOPE contributed to the hospital’s response to the earthquake. Currently, HOPE volunteer nurse, Jill Caporiccio of the Massachusetts General Hospital, is coordinating activities at the Hanger Clinic. With HOPE’s participation, the clinic has fitted over 400 Haitians, young and old, with prostheses, allowing them to return to normal lives.

Meanwhile, Haitian-American Certified Nurse Midwife and Project HOPE volunteer Carine Richard has been busily building the hospital’s midwifery program at its local dispensaries scattered throughout its 600 square mile service area.

Ian Rawson (stepson of Dr. Mellon), who now heads the hospital, shared an observation about Haiti today during an afternoon visit with patients. And it is one that I found very compelling. He observed, “Haiti is always in chronic crisis-- whether it be malnutrition or tuberculosis. Sometimes it is in acute crisis as well, from earthquakes to flooding. In the face of tragedy, the Haitian people are not rigid. They bend like bamboo, coming back with the best of resilience.”

His perspective has great relevance to HOPE. Where there is crisis there is HOPE. For us, the crisis may be acute, quiet or unseen. As our recent experience with HAS demonstrated, we are able to respond quickly to make a difference to those in need, no matter the crisis.

Inspiring Action in Haiti

2010-07-30T09:47:00.006-04:00

Port au Prince, Haiti
Here in Haiti, at the frontline of a quiet crisis, we continue to meet leaders, young and old, who bring creativity and influence to the common good -- at the least, providing inspiration and at the most, inspiring action to move the country forward.

Inspiration. I suppose this could be one of the most cliché concepts to be covered in this kind of blog. Yet, for sure, it was the recurring theme of our day today.

It was seen in Carlene Dei, USAID country director for Haiti: a leader of noted academic and professional stature, who kept her appointment with Project HOPE -- in a most memorable way. She held the meeting with us in our sweltering SUV, when a security issue left us unable to enter the U.S. Embassy building. After a distinguished career with USAID, Dei was eligible to retire. Yet, she chose to continue to lend her expertise, gained in her native country of Jamaica and in Ghana, to her role as country director for Haiti. She is now leads a severely understaffed staff, with the wisdom of an experienced leader.

Additional inspiration came in the form of a chance encounter, as I picked my way through the graffiti-covered rubble of the nation’s only public medical school, with two young men on their way to class. The pair, fourth and fifth year students from Cap Haitian, are among 600 students at the school, one which regularly receives over 5,000 applications each year. While taking a break from a community health exam, they talked about their hopes and aspirations. I couldn’t help but marvel at them. Even in the most supportive of settings, medical education is nothing if not a daunting pursuit. But, here in a setting of utter destruction?

Finally, no sooner had our team been told that volunteerism is not often seen among the poor of Haiti (their days understandably involved in the very pursuit of survival), we witnessed an unforgettable sight. As we approached the Adventist Hospital of Haiti, we saw a line of young men and women bearing shovels, wearing familiar bright blue Project HOPE t-shirts. They were removing trash and rubble from the Hospital grounds -- as volunteers. This was yet another example of how HOPE inspires volunteerism -- and provides the setting to make it possible.

I continue to be reminded, here in Haiti, that the immensity of its tragedy does not lend itself to single heroes. Instead, it calls upon many individuals, many heroes humbly going about making a difference in the lives of those in need. I hope that you will be equally inspired.

Where There is Crisis, There is HOPE

2010-07-29T08:25:00.004-04:00

Port au Prince, Haiti July 28
As sleep lifted me from my fog this morning and the aircraft carrying our team descended into Port au Prince, browns and blues formed into the solid shapes of crumbled buildings and tarp-dotted tent camps. And somehow it all seemed so familiar-- a true physical manifestation of the countless news story images and my own imagination filling in the blanks.

But my first day in the battered Haitian capital still proved to have lessons in store. What I have seen in my brief tour so far has shown me that the Haitian people survive on sheer determination. They have walked through fire and come away with an inspirational sense of hope.

We saw the best of humanity in the faces of Theodore Clermelie and her 10-month-old son Joseph Salomon, who waited patiently all day on a crowded outdoor patio at Clinique Sainte Marguerite in the Delmas 75 neighborhood of Port au Prince for a treatment for the boy’s itchy-looking skin rash, a surprise allergic reaction.

Our backgrounds and languages were different, yet the tenderness with which Theodore engaged her son— bouncing him on her knee and using the bright red liquid in a bottle of Project HOPE-donated PediaLyte as an ad hoc toy—was universal.

Never in conversations did we hear talk about the recent traumatic events of the past. There was no looking over shoulders. From a vantage point six months from the date of the earthquake I suppose that I expected more of a focus on personal losses. Instead we saw eagle eyes trained on the future: Haitians engaging the world community in the common quest for bettering the country.

Without exception, the Haitian Ministry of Health has also stepped up to the plate with a daunting request of Project HOPE: to assess the biomedical equipment of Port au Prince’s six largest hospitals (which together possess 60% of the medical equipment in all of Haiti). This month-long project proved to be an intensely productive collaborative experience for the Project HOPE team of four volunteer American biomedical engineers and four of their Haitian counterparts—which assessed and catalogued 931 items.

As Project HOPE now moves into the second phase of this project, the training of Haitian technicians to use and maintain these machines, we are proud to be part of the unglamorous side of the job—making sure that things work for the people that need them.

Today, like many days, I see that where there is crisis, there is HOPE. And I can’t help but categorize what our team has seen into two distinct categories: acute crisis, such as was seen in Haiti immediately after the January quake, and quiet crisis, which can arguably represent what the country is experiencing now—with the focus shifting to the treatment of chronic illness and rehabilitation.

I am firmly reminded that as Haiti transitions from acute crisis to quiet crisis, Project HOPE continues to have relevance and importance for the people that it serves.

Project HOPE and Partners Receive Dominican Republic’s Highest Honor

2009-09-02T10:08:00.004-04:00

Washington, D.C. (September 1, 2009) John P. Howe, III, M.D., President and CEO of Project HOPE shakes hands with The Dominican Republic Ambassador to the United States Roberto B. Saladin after a ceremony where HOPE and it's partners were presented the medallions of the Order of Duarte, Sanchez, Mella, the highest honor bestowed upon foreign individuals by the President of the Dominican Republic, His Excellency Dr. Leonel Fernandez Reyna. HOPE and partners BD, Merck & Co., Inc., and Sanofi Pasteur were presented the awards in recognition of the organizations’ humanitarian relief efforts to the national emergency caused by tropical storms Noel and Olga in 2007.

Read More

Solid Partnerships Lead to Global Development Opportunities

2009-03-30T10:45:00.005-04:00

Dr. Howe Blogs From the U.S. ChamberPost 3/27/09

....To date, the U.S. Navy, Project HOPE and our long-time corporate partners have provided humanitarian assistance and health education in 27 countries. We have sent nearly 700 Project HOPE medical volunteers, who along with their Navy counterparts, have treated more than 300,000 people, provided health education to 66,000 and delivered more than $31 million in medicines and medical supplies. Read More

(Project HOPE Volunteers in

Ghana March 2009)

Partnerships for Disaster Relief Lead to Global Development Opportunities

2009-03-19T08:51:00.003-04:00

From ChamberPost--a U.S. Chamber of Commerce Blog

By John P. Howe, III, M.D.

In my post last week, I gave just a few examples on how partnerships with private corporations have been key to achieving Project HOPE’s mission of improving health for people around the world for the past 50 years. Today, I’d like to tell you about a specific humanitarian partnership that is facilitating global development. Read More

Addressing Needs in Western China

2008-06-10T15:35:00.001-04:00

June 4, 2008

Xi'an is a city of 8 million, located in Western China. It's rich in history (terracotta soldiers) and current-day industry (agriculture, chemical and pharmaceutical). It was the capital of China (Chang'an) during the Qin and Tang Dynasties.

Its health-related challenges have changed in recent times. Ten years ago, the major causes of death were communicable diseases (pneumonia, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS). Today, the greatest worry for its citizens is cancer (gastric cancer and breast cancer). For those over 50 years of age, 60% have one or more chronic diseases.

There is speculation about possible explanations for these changes. They range from pollution (air and food) for cancer to living longer (life span now averaging 72 years) for chronic diseases.

Obesity, while not immediately life-threatening, is a concern. It is seen in children, as well as adults. It is thought to be related to the over-use of oils in cooking.

Diabetes is being addressed by HOPE's training programs in Xi'an and the surrounding Shaanxi Province. Three Xi'an Jiao Tong University leaders (1st Hospital and Medical School) participated in the Launching Ceremony for the Lilly/HOPE community-based training program, in Beijing, earlier this week.

Project HOPE in Beijing

2008-06-09T11:16:00.004-04:00

June 3, 2008

The Beijing Children's Hospital is world reknown for its services, from specialties to size. Over 7000 children are seen in its outpatient clinics each day. Its inpatient census of children treated for cancer now numbers 150.

Visiting Gaucher Patients
The little girl, age 7, was a charmer. She had come to the Hospital with her mother for Cerezyme treatment. She has Gaucher's Disease and is now in her fourth year of replacement therapy. She had the biggest brown eyes, not missing a thing, as she described her days at school.

Gaucher's Disease is a metabolic disorder which, if undiscovered and untreated, leads to death. Its patients lack an enzyme, required for normal handling of proteins. Its absence causes massive enlargement of the liver and spleen. Its replacement (intravenous infusion every two weeks) with Cerezyme, a Genzyme product, leads to a normal childhood.

The 13 year old boy came with his dad. He had been under treatment for five years and was doing well. He, and the little girl, are among the 130 children now participating in this Project HOPE/Genzyme program, overseen by a group of worldwide experts in this disease. Through the generosity of Genzyme, the medicine is provided to the patients at no cost. HOPE, in turn, has responsibility for training the physicians who administer it. Children, from throughout China, are alive today, because of this nearly ten-year old partnership between HOPE and Genzyme.

HOPE Service Honored in Beijing
The last of the three (Wuhan, Shanghai and Beijing) recognitions of HOPE's 25 years in China and our 50 years around the world took place at a final banquet. It brought together 90-100 government officials, collaborating foundations, donors and friends. It was characterized as a "working dinner," rather than a celebration, because of its proximity to the May 12th tragedy in Sichuan Province.

It was a gathering of friends. Dr. Wang Longde, the recent Executive Vice Minister of Health, is now a member of the Peoples Congress, Chairman of the Chinese Preventive Medicine Association, Dean of the Beijing University School of Public Health and a longtime supporter of HOPE; he came from earthquake-related meetings to be with us. Dr. Shen Jie, who previously headed HIV/AIDS programs for the Chinese CDC and is now Party Secretary for the CDC, has been to Carter Hall many times. Eve Wen-Jing Lee is a senior leader with the Ford Foundation. They, and their counterparts from the Beijing area, signalled their support of Project HOPE in ways that bode well for our future in China.

Project HOPE & Eli Lilly Launce New Diabetes Program in China

2008-06-08T11:09:00.000-04:00

June 2, 2008

The health leadership of 12 provinces, as well as the Ministry of Health, the Chinese Center for Communicable Diseases, the Beijing Bureau of Health, the Chinese Medical Doctors Association and the U.S. Embassy joined in the official launching of the "Expanding and Improving Diabetes Care and Education in the Community" initiative, a joint effort of Eli Lilly and Project HOPE. It was attended by local and national media.

In 1998, President Jiang Zemin asked HOPE to develop a country-wide program to train physicians, nurses and health workers in the recognition and treatment of diabetes. At the time, only 20% of those with diabetes in China knew of their illness, before they developed an eye or kidney complication. HOPE carried out its "trainer the trainer" methodology in all 31 provinces. A decade later, over 200,000 have received this training, with the support of Eli Lilly, BD and Roche Diagnostics.

The program announced today, sponsored by Eli Lilly, will expand this training to the community level. A five year initiative, it will establish 7 training centers, principally located in the west. Dr. Carlos Paya, Vice President for Research (Diabetes and Endocrine), and Jorg Ostertag, President of Lilly China spoke to its impact on improving the lives of those with diabetes throughout China. This event was subsequently highlighted in the next-day edition of the China Daily.

Beijing is in the countdown for the August 8th opening of the 2008 Olympic Games. This is seen in the dramatic architecture of newly-constructed buildings: the new terminal at the Airport, the so-called "bird's nest" which will hold the Opening ceremony, the colorful swimming center and the media headquarters designed in the shape of the Olympic torch. It's also seen at the Beijing University Third Hospital.

The Third Hospital, and its Institute of Sports Medicine, is the designated center for the treatment of injuries of the competing athletes. Yu Changlong is the Chief Medical Officer for sports rehabilitation for the 2008 Games. He predicted that most of those that he'll be asked to treat will be athletes with exacerbations of chronic conditions that they'll bring to the Games. Knee, shoulder and ankle diagnoses, in this order, will likely be the most commonly seen. The top inpatient floor of the Institute has been cleared, and is waiting, for the first of the injured athletes.

The President of the Beijing University Health Science Center, Dr. Han Qide, is a remarkable physician leader. He began his career as a family doctor in Western China, earning $6 a month. His practice included delivering babies, setting fractures and performing surgery. He went on to become a revered academic family practitioner--and a prominent political leader, as well.
In addition to his current University responsibilities, Dr. Han is the Chairman of the People's Congress, the 175 person governing body in China, as the leader of his 110,000 member "minority party" which is populated with "intellectuals." He spoke, at length, about his priority for "equity" in access to health care across the country.

Dr. Ke Yang, an internationally-recognized investigator in oncology, is the Executive Vice President of the Health Science Center. She invited HOPE, given our roles with Wuhan University and Shanghai Jaio Tong University, to assist in the recruitment of an outstanding new leader for the Beijing University Nursing School. As in Wuhan and Shanghai, she is eager to engage the School in curriculum reform.

This is in keeping with a similar effort in the Medical School. She observed that, while the School has received acclaim for its reputation in research (molecular level) and clinical practice (specialties), it can benefit from strengthening in two areas: creation of clinical investigators and primary care physicians. For example, in the aftermath of the SARS epidemic, the related published studies were more basic than clinical in nature due to a relative lack of clinical investigators. Her observations were in keeping with those of Dr. Chen Zhu, during last year's visit.

International Children's Day

2008-06-07T10:59:00.001-04:00

June 1, 2008

June 1st is International Children's Day, a day celebrated every year in China with great gusto. Today was no exception at the Shanghai Children's Medical Center.

The foyer, or Great Hall, of the SCMC, is a high-ceilinged room about the size of an Olympic swimming pool. It was a point of contention, when the hospital was in design. Our Chinese colleagues viewed it as too Western. Dr. Walsh saw it as an important gathering place. It was certainly the latter on this occasion.

Months ago, members of our Western Regional Advisory Board gathered in San Francisco to plan this day. The WRAB is a group of influential Chinese Americans, who were very important to the early support of the SCMC. They collaborated with their friends and relatives in Hong Kong (Project HOPE Hong Kong) to provide encouragement and funding.

The current Board members raised nearly $20,000 to underwrite a children's art competition, involving children in Taiwan and China (Beijing, Wuhan and Shanghai). This led to 3600 entries (paintings). Those of the 250 finalists were displayed in the Great Hall on this June 1st. And, what talent was represented in each of them--and the twenty children who received awards for contributing the very best pieces!

The paintings, all 3600 of them, now will be displayed in China and the U.S. They will be available for purchase. The proceeds will be used to support additional training programs, for physicians and nurses, at the SCMC.

It's important to point out the significant role of the Board of Project HOPE Hong Kong, a national organization of HOPE at the time, in the development of the hospital. Edmund Tse and his colleagues provided funds for the hospital's initial planning and, later, its patients and physicians.

The day ended with recognition of ongoing support from FedEx, Covidien and the Schneider Foundation for the programs of the hospital. From neonatal equipment to fellowship exchanges, they are making an everyday difference in meeting the needs of children who depend on the SCMC.

This ceremony served as a reminder that the agenda of the Shanghai Municipality and HOPE partnership remains an unfinished one. For example, in a city of 18 million, there are only 20 thousand nurses. Lily Hsu, Shanghai Program Director for HOPE and Dean of the Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Nursing, is leading efforts to respond to this particular need--at the SCMC and beyond.

Shanghai Celebrations Honor Earthquake Victims

2008-06-06T16:41:00.008-04:00

May 31, 2008

It was a day of recognition, amidst the felt focus on the Shanghai response to the earthquake in Sichuan Province. The long-planned evening banquet, celebrating our three anniversaries (10th for the Shanghai Children's Medical Center (SCMC); 25th for Project HOPE in China; and 50th for HOPE around the world) had been cancelled, in honor of those who lost their lives in Sichuan Province.

However, the day's events at the hospital continued on schedule.

It was a day of beautiful weather, with the hospital's three flag poles, side by side, flying the flags of HOPE, the SCMC and China. Over two hundred people gathered on the lawn in the front of the Heart Tower to witness a "first" in the history of China. Never before had a bust of an American been unveiled on hospital grounds. Today, the leadership of Shanghai honored the memory of Dr. Bill Walsh, the founder of HOPE, in a formal ceremony unveiling his handsome bust, the largest of its kind in the city. Beneath it are the words: "Doctor, Teacher, Friend," which well reflect the esteem in which he continues to be held in China.

His son, John, speaking on behalf of the Walsh family, recounted his father's abiding commitment to the hospital in its creation. While he saw it as a place of healing, he also envisioned it as a means of connecting people who care deeply about health. The previous day's CEO forum, bringing together hospital leaders from throughout China, along with their counterparts from four continents, would have greatly pleased him.

Lynn Schneider, the daughter of the benefactor who inspired and supported the creation of the Schneider's Children's Hospital in Israel, spoke of her father's similar view of a hospital for children. He described it as a "bridge to peace." This has been HOPE's experience in Krakow, Shanghai and soon in Basrah. It has been our experience, as well, with clinics in Santo Domingo and Monte Plata.

The formal 10th Anniversary Celebration followed in the hospital's International Conference Hall. It began with singing, in Mandarin, by the SCMC staff choir. Their first song was a tribute to the victims of the earthquake. Its words, "We will hold your hand" and "Be safe and be lucky" were most compelling. The words of their second song, "Big hand holds little hand" recognized the work of the hospital.

Dr. Liu Jinfen, the internationally-reknown heart surgeon and President of the the SCMC, spoke of the hospital's beginning: "Shanghai Children's Medical Center was jointly established by Shanghai Municipal People's Government and U.S. Project HOPE."

He went on to speak of this moment's significance: "As the symbolized project of Shanghai's social development during the period of the "Ninth Five Year Plan," Shanghai's key construction project, one of the 10 great deeds implemented by Shanghai Municipality and U.S. Project HOPE's largest collaborative program in the world, SCMC has become the establishment of the century with huge investment."

He concluded with a recognition of the "leaders at all levels" who shared "care and support." He closed with the words, "Special thanks should also be given to Project HOPE for their selfless support. By drawing advantages from others, we will strive to be the best in Asia and seek to attain the advanced world levels with our diligence."

After the ceremony, Yang Qiao Du, the former Vice Mayor came by the hospital to share his regards. He was a physician leader in Tibet, before assuming his Shanghai responsibilities. His schedule kept him from the unveiling but, because of his friendship with HOPE, he wanted to let us know of his appreciation of our continuing contributions to the SCMC.

We finished the day with rounds of the patient wards, which allowed an opportunity for us to meet with patients and their families. I won't soon forget little Lisha, a six-year old girl, who survived the earthquake and had recently been transferred to the SCMC for the care of her orthopedic injuries. She was lying in bed, with her right arm and right leg in casts--and a stuffed dog, with floppy ears, in her left arm. She had the warmest of smiles, as she described, through her mother, what she experienced at her school on the 12th of May.

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Project HOPE Trained Health Professionals Provide Care Where Needed in China

2008-06-03T11:25:00.002-04:00

May 12, 2008 will never be forgotten by the Chinese people. It will be remembered, and vividly so, much in the same way that those in U.S. remember the day of President Kennedy's death and the attack on the World Trade Towers. The earthquake, in Sichuan Province, dwarfed another health disaster, occurring at the same time to the east, in Anhui Province.

Anhui Province was dealing with an outbreak of hand-foot-mouth disease (HFMD), a viral epidemic, principally effecting children. Its presentations were severe, from pulmonary edema to respiratory failure. Over 10,000 patients were stricken, and 26 died from the complications of this illness.

Project HOPE Trained Medical Professionals Offer Help

Two experts, a physician and a nurse trained by Project HOPE, were deployed from the Shanghai Children's Medical Center to the Anhui Province. Both were HOPE Fellows in the past. Dr. Li Bi Yu received training at the Schneider Children’s Hospital in Israel, and Nurse Wang Hue Yong was trained at the Queen Mary Hospital in Hong Kong. Dr. Li is a well recognized physician educator and, because of this, is respectfully called "Pearl of HOPE."

Health Education Key to Successful 25 Year Relationship Between Project HOPE and China

This served as a reminder of the significance of 1983--to HOPE and to China. Our now 25 year relationship began with an invitation, in 1983, from a network of universities, to establish medical and nursing education programs in China. From 1983, when we accepted the invitation of the Shanghai Second Medical University and Xin Hua Hospital to help in creating a pediatric cardiovascular center at Xin Hua Hospital, and 1984, when we helped develop a pediatric and neonatal intensive care unit in Hangzhou, in collaboration with Zhejiang Medical University, to 2008, when we will soon announce, in Beijing, a community-based diabetes training program, involving partners in 31 provinces, HOPE has trained over 200,000 doctors, nurses and other health workers in China.

A most recent example of our education programs was seen, just this week, in the International Children's Hospital CEO Forum at the Shanghai Children's Hospital. Speakers included Professor Joseph Press, the President of Schneider Children's Hospital in Israel, Steve Rusckowski, the CEO of Philips Healthcare and a HOPE Board member, and Dr. Shen Xiaoming, the Vice Mayor of Shanghai. Nearly 60 CEOs of children's hospitals, from throughout China, attended this daylong conference.

The presentations included "Past and Future of Hospital and Health Care Administration in China." "Current Medical Equipment Demands in Children's Hospitals," "Strategy Planning for Hospital Specialty Development," and "A Primary Immunodeficiency (PID) Genetic Diagnostic Network for Asia," among other topics of current interest in China.

One of the Conference banquet attendees, the head of higher education in Shanghai, underscored the importance of international education to the current Chinese leaders. He, himself, received his doctorate in physics in the U.K. (Manchester) on a scholarship. In his present position, influenced by his own experience, he has created 45 scholarships for outstanding foreign students to come to Shanghai for their graduate degrees.

This day was yet another example of the "bridge to peace" that comes with the sharing of health and education across time zones--and oceans.

Project HOPE's Dr. Howe Visits Shanghai Children's Medical Center

2008-06-02T13:29:00.008-04:00

The Shanghai Children's Medical Center is remarkable for its youth (ten years) and its accomplishment (now #1 in the world in the number of open heart surgeries on infants and children). It was conceived and created through a partnership between Project HOPE and the Shanghai Municipal Government, one which continues to this day.

Our visit to its Heart Center, a seven story building devoted to cardiology and cardiovascular surgery opened just a year ago, was inspirational. Its beds are filled to capacity with patients, only 20% of whom come from the Shanghai area. The remainder are from throughout China--and beyond (South Korea, Japan, Thailand, Australia and Austria, for example). Its cardiac surgeons, now 24 in number, will perform 2600 open heart surgeries this year.

We went on to City Hall to meet with the Vice Mayor, Shen Xiaoming. An internationally-recognized, academic pediatrician, he served as President of the Shanghai Children's Medical Center from 1998 to 2004. Since then, he has had positions of increasing responsibility in university and city settings. He is responsible today for the City's health and education programs, from hospitals to universities to public schools.

He spoke of his priorities, now and in the years ahead. He has a keen concern for the children who were injured in the earthquake in Sichuan Province. He encouraged HOPE and the Shanghai Children's Medical Center to join in the creation of a rehabilitation facility for children in Chengdu, one which would address both physical and emotional needs. This could be a model for the nation, as China's expertise in this specialty is yet undeveloped.

For the future, he sees two health-related concerns for China: first, emerging infectious diseases, which require the best of surveillance, diagnosis and treatment; and second, a focus on the "whole person," rather than disease. He feels strongly that physicians need to shift their emphasis from focusing on the treatment of disease to the maintaining the health of their patients.

For example, he described a new City-wide policy of limiting the amount of salt in the daily diet of children. An actual amount has been set as the limit, and an education program is currently underway to assure compliance with it.

All this is in keeping with his energy--and his unrelenting curiosity. It was he who did the original research in lead poisoning in children that led to the Central Government's decision to require unleaded gasoline in China. He continues to mentor Ph.D. students and maintains an active lab, looking at sleep patterns in children--and their effect on learning.

The American Chamber of Commerce, in Shanghai, is now in its fourth year with a Committee on Corporate Social Responsibility. We were invited to present the HOPE story before the Committee; other presenters included the Grameen Foundation, the Ruan Yi Shan Heritage Foundation, UNICEF and the World Wildlife Foundation.

HOPE is the only one of twelve foundations, outside China, officially approved by the Central Government for work in China, and we were the third behind the Gates Foundation and the Clinton Foundation (November 2007).

Dr. Howe Visits Project HOPE Trained Nurses Caring for Earthquake Victims in Wuhan

2008-05-30T12:21:00.000-04:00

The Zhongnan Hospital, overlooking East Lake, holds a special spot in the hearts of the citizens of Wuhan. Soon to number 2000 beds, it is the principal teaching hospital of the Wuhan University Health Science Center. Its President, Zhou Yungfeng, a noted radiation oncologist, is also the Dean of the Medical School. He is a strong supporter of the HOPE Nursing School.

The School's leadership, as a catalyst in the reform of nursing education in China, is being played out in the Hospital. Its well educated Master's prepared nurses are being promoted to Head Nurse positions, within two years of graduation. Their analytic skills and well-honed research training are seen as adding value to the increasing complex management of patients requiring tertiary care.

This was exemplified on the Hospital's patient floor, now named "Ward of Love." Thirty-six patients, recently transferred from Sichuan Province, with earthquake-related injuries are receiving the care of the School's graduates. The nurses are quick to point out that the ward could have been described as the "disaster ward; instead, it's called the "caring ward."

The patients, ranging in age from 26 to 90, have received, or soon will receive, surgery for trauma diagnoses, orthopedic and neurosurgical in nature. We visited three of them. Two were in their nineties, with leg fractures. Each spoke with a Sichuan dialect--and was hard of hearing. Even so, they conveyed a sense of gratitude for the attention they were receiving from the nursing staff. The third was a 50 year old government worker with rib fractures and a hemothorax. He was without pain and easy to engage in conversation.

The Medical Director of the ward is an orthopedist. He described the three surgeries that he had performed earlier in the day. His counterpart, the Head Nurse, was effusive in her pride of the focus of the entire Hospital on the victims and their families. This is reflective of what we witnessed in Chengdu and, later, in Shanghai, as well as Wuhan, a country-wide embrace of those effected by this tragedy.

Photos of Dr. Howe Visiting Earthquake Survivors in Chengdu, China

2008-05-29T15:19:00.006-04:00

Project HOPE's President and CEO, John P. Howe III, M.D. visited Chengdu, China located in the Sichuan Province, the region most impacted by May's massive earthquake. Read his May 26 Blog for stories of China's littlest earthquake survivors.

Project HOPE President and CEO Attends Nursing School Graduation in Wuhan, China

2008-05-28T11:15:00.006-04:00

Wuhan, China May 27, 2008

The recent rise of China has been fueled by the economic development of its eastern seaboard. Enterprise zones, central government tax waivers and business incentives have contributed to striking economic growth across major industries. Left behind, at least in perception, has been central and western China. This was recognized by the new President, Hu Jintao, as he took office. His priority for the country has been, and is, a "harmonious society." That is, a better balance, in economic health, among all geographic regions.

This has led to the well recognized policy, described as "Central China Rising." Wuhan, a city of 8 million, west of Shanghai, is benefitting from this focus. Wuhan is considered the gateway to the west, much as St. Louis and Chicago played this role, here in the U.S. It is a city whose public and private institutions are now receiving increased resourcing from Beijing.

One of these institutions is Wuhan University. With 50,000 students (30,000 undergraduate and 20,000 graduate), it is one of China's top tier academic campuses. Its President is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and internationally-recognized for his work in remote sensing.

Project HOPE and Wuhan University

Project HOPE has enjoyed an eight year relationship with the University. Its President asked HOPE, in 2001, to join him in creating a nursing school of the first class. It would be one to lead China in nursing curriculum reform, with an emphasis on analytic thinking and decision-making. Its dean would be recruited by HOPE.

Today's graduation ceremony for the Nursing School reflected the success of this partnership. The School has a full complement of students seeking Baccalaureate, Masters and Doctoral degrees. They complete their baccalaureate education in four years, not five, which had been the norm in China. They have their first clinical experiences, in the hospital, in their second year, rather than their fourth year. Their dissertations are presented in English, and twenty had their work published, last year.

By any standard, this young school has been a tremendous success. It is now regarded as leading the way, throughout China, in nursing education reform, with 14 full-time faculty members, 27 part-time faculty, 4 international consultants, 191 baccalaureate students, 21 masters students and 6 doctoral students. The latter two groups come from around the world to pursue their degrees at the officially-named HOPE School of Nursing.

Project HOPE and HIV/AIDS Education in China

Dr. Gui Xi'en, a senior member of the University's medical school, was mentioned in a past issue of Time magazine as one of the world's most influential leaders. The President of China visited him, in his home not long ago, to express his admiration and respect, on behalf of the people of China. He is a partner of HOPE in novel training in the treatment of HIV/AIDS patients in Hubei Province, whose capital city is Wuhan.

It was he who discovered improper techniques in blood exchange, as a cause of HIV/AIDS, in Hunan Province. One of his medical students, from this province, mentioned that many in his village were dying, for unexplained reasons. The villagers were very suspicious of Dr. Gui, when his student brought him to investigate the cause. Fearful that his discovery might create a stigma for the village, he was stoned. He persevered to make the discovery that would change the course of this disease in China.

Today, he introduced us to five of his patients. Their stories were most compelling, as they recounted the appearance of their HIV/AIDS: high fevers--and the inability to get out of bed. Their doctors, trained by HOPE in the use of anti-retroviral drugs, began the treatments that have allowed them to return to work, as school teachers and farmers.

In the region of Hubei province where they live, the physicians, nurses and other health workers, trained by HOPE have cared for their infected patients in a way that has resulted in a decrease in overall HIV/AIDS mortality, from 49% to 8%. This training is being extended now to contiguous regions, where similar results are anticipated. It is Dr. Gui who deserves great credit for this experience.

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Wendy Pai Lyle, the new U.S. Consul General in Wuhan, was a prominent attendee at the Nursing School's graduate banquet tonight. Now in her 28th year of public service with the State Department, she has immense popularity in China, from years past. During the Nixon era, there were only one or two means of communication with the outside world. Voice of America was one of them, and Wendy Lyle was the voice for China. In the words, of Yungfeng Zhou, the President of the Wuhan University Health Science Center, "We all, in our generation, learned our English from her." This served as yet another reminder of the importance, and impact, of the "diplomacy of small gestures."

Learn More about Project HOPE’s Work in Wuhan, China.

Project HOPE President and CEO Visits China Earthquake Victims

2008-05-27T14:12:00.008-04:00

Chengdu is a city with a distinguished past. Three thousand years old, it holds a special place in Chinese history, as described in the book, Three Countries. At that time, one thousand years ago, its location, and its leader (Kao Ming), played central roles in the war of the then three countries. Chengdu was the capital of one of them, with a smaller warrior force. However, because of the cleverness and guile of Kao Ming, its country prevailed.

Today, it is a city of 20 million (4 million in the city center, 6 million in the surrounding suburbs and, in addition, 10 migrants) with a traditional manufacturing base, now shifting to a service industry. The road from the airport is lined with car dealerships, interspersed with stretches of poverty.

Our destination was the Haixi Hospital, also called the West China Hospital. Located in the heart of the city, it is the largest hospital in China (4300 beds). It is huge and new in appearance, with wailing ambulances coming and going from its Emergency Center. It serves as the principal receiving hospital for the Province's earthquake victims.

Soon after the May 12th earthquake, over 1,300 victims were admitted to the Hospital. The principal surgical diagnoses were open fractures of the extremities; the medical diagnoses were acute anxiety and diarrheal diseases. There are now 600 victims in the Hospital. Of these, 67 await definitive renal dialysis treatment.

The Haixi Hospital is sharing the burden of care of victims with provinces throughout the country. The central government has asked each province to be responsible for one of the effected counties in Sichuan Province. For example, Hubei Province has the responsibility for Ping Yuan county. This extends to food, water, shelter, health and reconstruction.

Project HOPE has had many health education and humanitarian aid relationships throughout Sichuan Province. The staff of the Haixi Hospital participated in our diabetes training programs. Thirty intensivists, (board-certified physicians who are additionally certified in the subspecialty of Critical Care Medicine) from throughout the Province, received training for 3-12 months at the Shanghai Children's Medical Center; ten came from the Chengdu Children's Hospital. The children at the Hospital have received preventive dentistry, modeled after our successful program in Shanghai. Finally, those in the Province, in areas affected by the flooding of 2003, were benefitted by medicines and medical supplies from HOPE.

Because of the patient care demand, created by the volume of earthquake victims, the staff of the Haixi Hospital has been augmented by 300 physicians and nurses from throughout China. While this is meeting the acute care needs of the patients, there is an often-voiced need for rehabilitation medicine, from prosthetics to staff.

In contrast, the Chengdu Children's Hospital is smaller (300 beds) and older (due for replacement in 2010). It is led by a pediatric neurologist and a general pediatrician. It currently has 50 inpatient earthquake victims, whose most frequent diagnoses are trauma-related.

The stories of the patients and their families were most compelling. There was a 3-year old boy with a fractured, right humerus and a most endearing smile. I saw a 7-year-old boy with a fractured right femur, with his twin sister at his bedside; their mother was killed in the earthquake. There was a 13-year-old girl with a fractured pelvis; she was one of 400 at her school, when the building collapsed, where 20 were rescued--of whom four, including this young girl, survived. And an 8-month-old boy with fractures of both femurs, now in bilateral traction.

The doctors and nurses also described stories, from the scene, which can never be forgotten. I was told of a baby born to a mother who died in the earthquake, who was rescued by helicopter, brought to the Hospital and named, in Chinese, "born in earthquake." The medical staff told of the difficulty of extracting another baby from the arms of his mother, who had died violently, clutching him and protecting him.

It was most inspiring to finish the day with six HOPE alumnae: five nurses and one doctor who had trained at the Shanghai Children's Medical Center, as part of our Rural Training Program. The doctor, who heads the neonatal unit, described the impact of her training. It enabled her to care for more patients in the unit, to acquire more sophisticated equipment for use in the unit and to witness a dramatic increase in the survival rate for the unit's newborns.

Looking ahead, the physicians and nurses at the Children’s Hospital spoke to the need for rehabilitation training and care. There is, at present, only one rehabilitation medicine specialist, and there are no physical therapists. Space may be identified for this program, but state-of-the-art equipment is needed. HOPE was able, in the late 1990's, to respond to a similar post-earthquake situation, and make a difference, in Turkey.

En route to the Airport, tents lined the sidewalks in front of nearby apartment buildings. The building residents, fearing another aftershock, were choosing not to spend the night in their buildings. It served as a reminder of a compelling day, just 70km from the epicenter of one of the world's greatest natural disasters.

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