 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2003 (XXXXI 4) |
The Haiti Working Group, which was organized in 1998, needs new members to survive. Most of the efforts of this PYM working group have been directed at running "The Visiting Haitian Pediatrician Project," which offers training in non-technological pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia for young Haitian physicians who are in the second year of their residency at Port-au-Prince General Hospital. Haitian medicine has been isolated and a goal of our program is to develop on-going relationships between physicians from Haiti and people who work at Children’s Hospital. Other goals are to educate American physicians, hospital staff people, hosts, students and other people to medical and political problems in Haiti.
The planning of this program was motivated by Haiti’s 50% infant mortality rate (the highest in the Western Hemisphere), the great needs of Haitian medicine, and the effects of U.S.-imposed sanctions on the health of Haitian people. We believe the effects of our program are amplified because the visiting Haitian pediatrician, after returning to Port-au-Prince, is in a position to teach and influence other medical personnel in Haiti. This program was financially supported at the beginning by the PYM Peace and Concerns Standing Committee. We have now obtained sufficient outside financial support to bring one Haitian physician here for 2 months, each year. Strengths of our organization include our medical and education contacts in Haiti, and relationships with other organizations in Philadelphia working on Haitian issues. We have expanded our goals to include visits to Haiti, and active opposition to U.S. sanctions and other pressures imposed on the democratically elected government.
Interested Friends should call me at 215-474-0791 or 215-898-8069.
Ronald Coburn, M.D.
Swarthmore Meeting (PA)
Clerk of PYM Haiti Working Group
Last modified: Wednesday, February 18, 2004 at 08:18 AM