Fall/Winter 2015 Newsletter: Volume 8, Issue 2
Message from the President
I am very excited to be joining Global Healing, a great organization with a proud history of more than 20 years of service to humanity. Before I joined Global Healing, I worked to increase the supply of low-cost vaccines for children in developing countries. Through the distribution channels of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) and the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), these vaccines reach children in the world’s poorest countries who otherwise would not receive the life-saving interventions that we take for granted in our own countries. My commitment to global health is driven by the belief that through strong networks of committed individuals, we can save lives and transform healthcare around the globe.
Global Healing’s work to make advanced pediatric care available to children in need, and ensure a safe blood supply for all, addresses an equally important aspect of global health: improving the standard of medical care above the most basic level. Over the next decade, economic improvements in the developing world will lift many countries out of the status of being “low-income countries” and into the ranks of “middle-income countries.” As such, they will no longer be eligible for many types of aid. Nonetheless, their populations will still contain the majority of the world’s poorest children. Global Healing’s work will help ensure that standards of medical care will continue to improve in these countries.
In this changing environment, there is a rising expectation among funders of international NGOs that countries will begin to take more responsibility for their own development. We look forward to evolving to work effectively in this new landscape. I believe that Global Healing’s work over the last two decades to sustainably develop our partners provides the foundation for our future growth. For example, at the Jo Ann Medical Center (JAMC) in Tbilisi, Georgia, we have established highly capable partners who are now working independently to make improvements to health services in their own country and in neighboring countries. We look forward to partnering with leaders at the JAMC on future projects, such as the potential new pediatric cardiac program in Kazakhstan, and to continuing to improve medical care worldwide for another twenty years.
Sincerely yours,
John J. Donnelly, III, Ph.D.
About John: He received his Ph.D. in Immunology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1979 and has more than 25 years’ experience in vaccine R&D including product registration, late stage development projects, early stage development projects, and vaccine discovery. Most recently he worked as Interim Director of the Vaccine Development Global Program at a leading NGO specializing in global health innovation. He also holds an MS degree in Strategic Studies from the US Army War College and is retired from the US Army Reserve, where he served for 30 years as a Medical Service Corps officer, with deployments to Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
DONATEWelcoming our Newest Program Manager
Sarah Fernández is our newest Program Manager overseeing projects in Vietnam and Latin America. She received her Ph.D. in Geography from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and has taught at both UCLA and Cal State San Marcos. Her fieldwork and teaching experience have been in the fields of political ecology and development, with regional specialty in Latin America and specific focus on the northern Andes. Sarah is fluent in Spanish and has volunteered as a medical translator, speaks Portuguese conversationally and is learning both Italian and French.
Prior to joining Global Healing, Sarah worked on a new community development project involving the training of locals and building of on-site infrastructure to allow for the production of high-quality cacao beans in the Ecuadorian province of Esmeraldas. The project aims to strengthen social capital in the form of local organizations with effective networks linking directly to outside markets, thus empowering small-scale farmers to thrive in a global market.
When discussing her motivations and new role at Global Healing, she takes a holistic view: “Environmental and public health are intimately linked, and I view the advancement of both among disenfranchised populations as key to improving human well-being worldwide. Thus, my transition from environmental to human health development in my career feels very natural – as well as necessary – to me.” We share her perspective and are thrilled to have her join the Global Healing team. For more information about Global Healing’s programs in Vietnam and Latin America and how to get involved, contact sarah@globalhealing.org.
Global Healing Successfully Launches Digital Learning Series in Georgia
With help from Global Healing, the Republic of Georgia is making great strides to improve the quality and availability of blood across the nation with the assistance of online-learning tools. Georgian blood bank professionals and national stakeholders are currently participating in webinars covering topics in Quality Management.
“Good manufacturing practices are the foundation of all blood bank operations,” says Ruth Sylvester, MT(ASCP)SBB, Director of Regulatory Services at America’s Blood Centers, who is leading the nine-week training series. “A thorough understanding of these basics is critical to achieve the next level of safety and quality in a blood operation. The Georgian blood system has shown an intense interest in moving forward, and I’m honored to be of assistance to them as they implement quality management throughout their country.”
The webinars have reached over 100 participants representing regional blood banks across the nation. The series is part of National Blood Safety Reform efforts launched in 2011, headed by the Georgian National Center for Disease Control (NCDC) with support from Global Healing. On-site inspections led by trainers skilled in EU standards are planned as a follow-up to the webinar series. Lectures are available online: click to watch now.
Meanwhile, Erin Coyne, Global Healing Program Manager, will travel to Georgia mid-November to meet with leaders from the Jo Ann Medical Center (JAMC) and Georgian NCDC to discuss the national blood safety strategy plan they have been developing. In November, Global Healing is also sponsoring donor recruitment training for the Georgian NCDC and local blood banks, led by Ülo Lomp, Donorship Development Director of the North Estonia Medical Center Blood Center. Additionally, Levan Avalishvili and Marina Abashidze of the JAMC Blood Bank will be traveling to Lithuania for training in blood bank management.
At left, Ruth Sylvester leads a training at the Georgian NCDC in 2014.
SUPPORT GEORGIAGlobal Healing Partners to Promote Latin American Blood Safety Webinar Series
Our new Latin American Blood Safety webinar series launched October 1, 2015, and will run through 2016. Global Healing and Grupo Cooperativo Iberoamericano de Medicina Transfusional (GCIAMT), with support from Abbott Laboratories, are facilitating the Spanish language webinars. The series kicked-off with a presentation from Dra Ana del Pozo covering the integration of blood services within national health systems. She shared methods for estimating the real need for blood & blood products at the national level. The first set of webinars, through February 2016, covers topics in Donor Management. Following webinars will cover topics in Quality Management, Hemovigilance, Transfusion Medicine and Immunohematology. For more information, a calendar of presentations and registration information, please contact Global Healing Program Manager Sarah Fernández at sarah@globalhealing.org.
Watch Dra Ana del Pozo’s webinar online: Estimación de Necesidades de Sangre y Componentes en el Nivel Nacional
MAKE A DONATIONGlobal Healing Working to Establish New Cardiac Care Program in Kazakhstan
With the long-term goal of broadening access to care in the region, Erin Coyne will be traveling to Kazakhstan this November with Irakli Metreveli, President of the Jo Ann Medical Center (JAMC), to perform a site evaluation for a potential pediatric and neonatal cardiac program. The goals of this initial trip include meeting with the Ministry of Health and identifying training needs.
In 2014, less than half of the newborns in Kazakhstan identified as needing cardiac surgery received it, according to statistics from the National Research Cardiac Surgery Center in Astana. Reasons include untimely diagnosis, poor prenatal screening, and long distances between the capital cities where care is available and other parts of the country. Many children born with congenital heart defects in other regions of the country are often diagnosed late or incorrectly. Travel to the capital city of Astana or abroad delays the surgery they need, and even if they are able to reach care centers, the children are often too sick to recover.
A pediatric cardiac program in Kazakhstan would replicate the model for training and care that has already proven successful in Tbilisi, Georgia. The JAMC, a beneficiary and also Global Healing’s very first program site, will achieve a new milestone of success by becoming our partner institution for the program. With the launch of a new pediatric and neonatal cardiac surgery program in Kazakhstan, JAMC surgeons would provide on-site training, and local surgeons would also travel to the JAMC to receive training there. The training of doctors in regions distant from the capital would improve accessibility of care and save the lives of children & infants needing cardiac surgery.
MAKE A DONATIONGlobal Healing Pursuing New Blood Program in the Philippines
Ormoc City, the largest city by area of the island of Leyte, was one of the areas in the Philippines hit by typhoon Haiyan (also called Yolanda) in 2013. The typhoon caused massive destruction to the city’s infrastructure, placing strain on its hospitals and medical services. While many of the hospitals have since recovered, the typhoon posed a major setback in their development. With a population of roughly 200,000 and a primarily agricultural economy, there remains an unmet need for blood to manage renal failure, maternal hemorrhage, and dengue on the island.
In August, a delegation of Global Healing staff and volunteers traveled to Ormoc City to learn more about the challenges faced by local blood banks and determine the feasibility and scope of a new blood safety program there. Volunteers on the trip included Dr. Elizabeth Donegan, Dr. Adam Weiss, and April Sabangan, RN of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).
The delegation met with the Mayor of Ormoc City and the Blood Program Coordinator—a newly established position within the Ormoc City Health Department–to learn more. Tours of four local hospitals and meetings with representatives from the Ormoc City Red Cross helped to identify two key areas for development: expanded donor recruitment and training for physicians in clinical uses of blood. The Ormoc Bay Rotary helped to arrange the visit and expressed a strong interest in promoting volunteer blood donation. All local stakeholders involved in the collection and use of blood products also demonstrated enthusiastic support for efforts to improve the blood system. Global Healing hopes to launch a program in Ormoc City in early 2016. Help support our efforts in the Philippines by donating today. Visit our donation page or click the button below and designate your donation to the “Philippines” fund.
From left to right: the Global Healing delegation meets with the Ormoc City Mayor at his office; Dr. Adam Weiss and Dr. Elizabeth Donegan of UCSF discuss the blood supply with Dr. Sandra Chiong, Medical Director of the Ormoc Sugarcane Planters’ Association-Farmers’ Medical Cooperative (OSPA-FMC); the Global Healing delegation visits the Ormoc Doctors’ Hospital during the recent site visit.
SUPPORT THE PHILIPPINESHUM Blood Bank Takes Next Step in Development, Produces Platelets for the First Time
When Global Healing trainers last departed from Haiti, the Hôpital Universitaire de Mirebalais (HUM) Blood Bank was preparing to take a major step in its development: the production of platelets (the component of blood involved in clotting). With improvements to the the cold-supply chain for blood products in Haiti and the production of reagents and plasma already underway at HUM, Global Healing volunteers Benjamin Rioux-Massé and Sharron Zimmerman were excited to report during their recent trip that the blood bank has taken this next step, having successfully produced platelets for the first time. Training sessions in platelet production relied on a generous in-kind donation of collection sets by Bloodworks Northwest.
During the seventh training trip to Haiti, made possible through the support of the Izumi Foundation, Sharron conducted workshops with blood bank staff on pre-phlebotomy arm preparation, platelet indications and dosage for the lab. Sharron says they are making “great strides,” and that she has “great respect for how hard these women work while we’re there, doing their own daily work and attending training classes at the same time!” Benjamin delivered lectures for medical staff, and both volunteers participated in meetings with the Swiss and Haitian Red Cross to address testing and turnaround time for blood products. Over the next six months, Héma-Québec will be generously providing online training in immunohematology for three blood bank staff members to continue the momentum built through on-site training.
Above, Global Healing volunteer Sharron Zimmerman successfully makes 3 blood components out of one whole with the hard-working HUM blood bank staff. This way, three different patients can be treated instead of just one.
SUPPORT HAITIThird Training Trip Continues to Pave the way for Self-Sustaining Program in Vietnam
With a new multi-story building under construction, set to be completed by the end of the year, the National Hospital of Pediatrics (NHP) in Hanoi, Vietnam, is rapidly expanding its capacity to provide care. Through partnership with Global Healing, the NHP is addressing the medical education needs of both physicians and nurses in its emergency department (ED) and pediatric and neonatal intensive care units.
Thanks to the generous support of Ronald McDonald House Charities, Global Healing conducted its third training trip to the NHP in September. The two-week training was the second of three modules implemented with NHP ED physicians, led by Dr. Jeffrey Bullard-Berent from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Medical Center, and the third of three training modules implemented with ED nurses, led by Vera Komisarjevsky, RN from the University of Southern Maine. During this trip, a day of joint-training exercises with the two departments focused on communication and collaboration among ED staff. Several training sessions focused providing ED nurses with necessary clinical examination skills. During the ED physician training, time was dedicated to continuing the creation of standard protocols for the hospital. Review of independently developed protocols, by email in the interim and in-person during the next Global Healing physician training trip, will support the development and implementation of these standards.
Dr. Colin Partridge of UCSF, Global Healing’s medical lead for the program, was particularly struck during his trip by the relationships that have been forged: “Over her three training trips, Vera has developed a remarkable camaraderie with the ED nurses. She is widely regarded as a stellar teacher, a good friend, a staunch supporter of ED nurses and their increasing role in the ED. From my perspective, she is a major reason that the three nursing modules have been so successful. Her methods serve as a stellar model for training nurses in the future.” Her leadership and the commitment of our volunteers are laying the foundation and working towards the ultimate goal of this program: leaving the NHP with the resources to establish its own standardized medical curriculum and fellowship training program.
For volunteer opportunities and to learn more about the program, contact sarah@globalhealing.org.
SUPPORT VIETNAMRead about Vietnam on the HuffPost blog>>
A perspective on healing across generations & cultures: Vera’s father, Chris Komisarjevsky, shares his memories of war, and hopes for the future. He includes touching words from Vera herself: “I love this country. I love the people. From the beginning, I’ve been struck by how open and compassionate everyone is. They accept me without question, first for who I am and then for the nursing. I feel that it is just this kind of openness that has made it possible for Vietnam to accomplish so much and move well beyond the war.”
Research & Care Fueling Health Improvements In Honduras
In collaboration with the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) and Blood Systems Research Institute, and thanks to an in-kind donation from Helmer Scientific, Global Healing is facilitating research in Roatán concerned with the prevalence, diagnosis and treatment of dengue on the island. According to the World Health Organization, the global incidence of dengue has increased dramatically in recent years, with about half of the world’s population now at risk. Trevor Brooks of UCSF is conducting research to improve understanding of the disease on the island (in spite of growing prevalence of the disease, little research has been conducted to date), to enable more efficient use of public resources in the treatment of dengue and to foster better health outcomes for patients.
Global Healing is also working to promote children’s oral health on the island of Roatán. Thanks to a generous donation from Traveling Toothbrushes, 100+ dental kits have been distributed to children and their families at the Roatán Volunteer Pediatric Clinic (RVPC). High-school senior Sabrina Nihsen launched the organization after her visit to Honduras. Recognizing the need for oral hygiene education, Sabrina has solicited donations and created packets of toothbrushes, toothpaste, and other dental supplies. Each pack includes instructions in Spanish on how to brush your teeth and tips for fighting cavities.
Our pediatric rotational program continues to provide opportunities for medical students to learn about tropical medicine first-hand and to provide care for children in Roatán. Christine Nelson, a 3rd year pediatric resident at Baylor College of Medicine, recently completed her first volunteer rotation at the RVPC. Reflecting on her time in Honduras, she shared some of the greatest takeaways: “I loved the experience Global Healing provided. I felt as if I was able to help patients and contribute to the community. Every day the patients provided me with an opportunity to learn something new, with backup from Dra. Cerritos and other clinicians to guide me if I had any questions or doubts.” After working on the island through the Global Healing HEAL (Health Education & Advocacy Liaisons) student internship program, Justin Rice also talked with us about his experience at the clinic this summer. He emphasized that it was “wonderful seeing the impact that our pediatricians had in the lives of our patients. Not only dealing with the acute illnesses that brought them into the clinic that day, their recommendations to the parents made a long-lasting impact on the health of their whole family.”
We are currently looking for new volunteers and interns to participate in our pediatric rotational program and HEAL internship program at the clinic. To learn more about volunteer opportunities in Roatán, contact sarah@globalhealing.org.
#GivingTuesday: Global Healing Joins the Global Giving Movement
#GivingTuesday is a global day of online-giving that follows two widely recognized shopping events: Black Friday and Cyber Monday. On Tuesday, December 1st, charities, families, businesses, community centers and students around the world will come together for one common purpose: to celebrate generosity and to give. This year, Global Healing is participating in #GivingTuesday and with the goal of raising $12,500 to support our programs in 2016. We are officially launching our online campaign on November 17th, and hope that we can count on your support to make this fundraiser a success. Reaching our goal will make it possible to send 10 of our volunteer medical professionals abroad in 2016 to train blood bank staff in Haiti & Georgia and neonatal/pediatric emergency department nurses and physicians in Vietnam. A successful fundraiser also means we can continue to support our volunteer pediatric clinic in Honduras, facilitating the rotational program and research efforts in partnership with the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). The fundraiser will also help us as we build upon the achievements of our existing programs to launch three new programs next year.
To help ensure the continued success of our programs, or a specific program of your choice, please consider making a recurring monthly donation to Global Healing today. GIVE A MONTHLY GIFT