Partners in Health (PIH) co-founder Thomas White passed away the morning of January 7th. Many lives have been saved, and the health of many communities improved, in Haiti and around the world, as a direct result of the financial support he provided to PIH throughout the years. While White will be missed, he leaves behind an inspirational legacy. Below is the PIH announcement of White's passing as well as a blog by author Tracy Kidder remembering him.
Partners in Health (PIH) is one of Haiti’s most important health oriented non governmental organizations, with a model based more on solidarity and human rights than on charity. In addition to its development activities, PIH has at times been called on to be a humanitarian responder such as during both Gonaives floods and most recently the earthquake. PIH also operates in Rwanda, Burundi, Lesotho, Russia, and numerous other countries. Below are highlights from the PIH 2010 Annual Report, which include construction of the largest public hospital outside of Port au Prince, in the city of Mirebalais.
Groupe Haïtien d’Étude du Sarcome de Kaposi et des Infectieuses Opportunistes (GHESKIO) was selected as the 2010 winner of the prestigious Gates Award for Global Health. The honor is well-deserved given GHESKIO’s innovative clinical service, research, and training programs and rapid response in treating those injured during the earthquake. GHESKIO's leadership is needed more than ever as the Haitian health care system is reconstructed. The press release is below, a fact sheet and an interview with GHESKIO Director Bill Pape are attached, and finally click here to see the award ceremony.
