Dr. Paul Farmer, My Hero

SPECIAL BULLETIN FROM PARTNERS IN HEALTH

Hot heads: Calling all knitters!

Baby born at the Burera District Hospital--kept warm with a stylish beanie cap.(Photo)

In the chilly mountains of rural Rwanda, where last year PIH's partner organization began working with the Burera District Hospital, resources are very limited and the temperature often drops into the 50s. Newborn babies, particularly those born prematurely, often struggle to keep warm. In a country where one in 10 babies dies before her first birthday, hypothermia is a serious threat.

A simple solution that can help save some of these little ones is to provide them all with beanies to keep them warm.

We are looking for knitters to help us put a warm beanie cap on every baby born in Burer-as is done in American hospitals. The Burera District Hospital welcomes about 100 new babies into the world each month, so our current goal is to provide 100 caps per month.

All beanie styles and colors are welcome. Hats can be made to fit either premature babies (head about the size of an orange) or full-term babies (head about the size of a grapefruit). We will arrange shipping from Boston to northern Rwanda.

Hats and donations may be sent to:
Jesse Greenspan
Partners In Health, Attn: Baby hats
888 Commonwealth Ave, 3rd floor

Clinton appoints Paul Farmer as Haiti deputy according to this recent press release.

That's fantastic news as Haiti could not find a better friend than Dr.Farmer.

Three reasons to love Dr.paul Farmer.

1) The Most Visible Man In The Medical World
2) The Most Adorable doctor in the world
3) The Most Well Known Doctor In The Non Profit World

Photo

Here is an excerpt from the Seattle Times News Source.Dr.Farmer Persuades Drug Company

"Many health advocates criticize drug companies for their long neglect of diseases that mainly afflict the poor.

But their expertise is needed to remedy the situation, said Dr. Paul Farmer, whose work with HIV- and TB-infected people in Haiti and other parts of the developing world was described in the book "Mountains Beyond Mountains."

"It would be a real mistake if we were skeptical of the industry to the extent we didn't allow them to play the role we need them to play," said Farmer, who serves on the initiative's board of advisers.

Farmer helped persuade Lilly to donate TB drugs to poor communities and to allow factories in India and Russia to produce the medicines at lower cost.

"I think a lot of people underestimate how much goodwill there can be in a huge company," he said."

"I would argue that a social justice approach should be central to medicine and utilized to be central to public health. This could be very simple: the well should take care of the sick."

In fact, it seems to me that making strategic alliances across national borders i
n order to treat HIV among the world's poor
is one of the last great hopes of solidarity across a widening divide.
-Paul Farmer -

Since I do not believe that there should be different recommendations
for people living in the Bronx and people living in Manhattan,
I am uncomfortable making different recommendations for my patients in Boston and in Haiti.
-Paul Farmer -
We do not have a good safety net. We don't have a good primary healthcare system.
-Dr.Paul Farmer

Listen to Dr.Farmer

Watch Video Here

CANGE, Haiti - Trucks teeter perilously as they climb the rutted and rock-strewn road between Port-au- Prince and Cange, jolting the people who travel unsheltered on their cargo.

Under the best conditions, it is a three-hour journey of lurching, halting and downpours.
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