MAP International Winter 2024 Newsletter by MAP International

WINT ER 2 024

Vol. 63

medicine for all people Our mission: To provide medicine and health supplies to those in need around the world so they might experience life to the fullest.

Your help means we’ll help even more in

2 24 Together, we can bring lifesaving medicine and health supplies to a world in need! As we begin 2024, our new Global Distribution Center will allow us to store and distribute more medicine than ever before. Our strategic plan calls for us to expand our critical programs to reach more people in more countries with lifesaving medicine. In this newsletter, we highlight several key initiatives along with firsthand accounts from health providers

INSIDE: Bringing Children Health Program Maternal and Child Health Program Chronic Disease Program

and beneficiaries, so you may read in their own words how your generosity touches — and in many cases — saves lives. With your help and God’s grace, this year MAP will bring more health and hope in Jesus’ name to those who would otherwise be forgotten.

Malnutrition and ORS Program Medical Mission Teams

medicine for all people

FOCUS: Maternal/Child Health Program Many women in the developing world do not have access to prenatal care of any sort, increasing the risk of birth complications for mothers and babies. Increasing access to prenatal vitamins is a key MAP initiative.

mortality rates in the world.

Isatu is pregnant and nervous — and with good reason. She has miscarried twice in the past two years, and her husband has threatened to divorce her if she loses another child.

Fortunately, a medical mission team was able to provide Isatu with prenatal vitamins donated by MAP International with the help of caring people like you. She was profoundly thankful, telling the mission team, “May the Lord go with you.”

Sierra Leone, where Isatu lives, has one of the highest child

Malnutrition in pregnant women and newborns is common, particularly in the rural and slum communities, as Sierra Leone is one of the poorest countries in Africa.

FOCUS: Malnutrition and Oral Rehydration Solution Program Malnutrition claims the lives of millions of people each year, many of whom are just children. In 2024, MAP is focusing on improving health outcomes for vulnerable children by expanding the provision of Oral Rehydration Solution and essential vitamins. Life for those living in the rural town of Siguatepeque, Honduras, is one of chronic scarcity. The average income for Hondurans is

less than $2 a day, leaving many families scrimping just to afford the basic necessities of food and shelter. When it comes to medical care, that is a resource that is simply unattainable. Clínica Betania, a mission clinic in Siguatepeque, was founded to meet the medical needs of this poor community. Several times a year, the clinic hosts medical brigades from the U.S., who come with volunteer doctors offering free consultations and medicine to patients. Dr. Benjamin Jivcu, an emergency medicine physician from Florida, recently participated in a medical brigade to Clínica Betania, where his team distributed MAP medicine and health supplies to the community. There he saw firsthand the incredible impact that one week of service can have on the people of Siguatepeque. “We took care of many patients that were chronically malnourished,”

Dr. Jivcu reported, “adults and children alike.” The extreme poverty and lack of access to enough nutritious food has taken a toll on families. “Some children had never even seen a pediatrician or a doctor,” he said. For patients who were suffering from malnutrition, Dr. Jivcu and his team treated them with vitamins and oral rehydration solution from MAP. “The patients were very thankful, and many of them said they don’t have enough money to see a doctor or pay for medications,” said Dr. Jivcu. During their week of service, the medical team helped Clínica Betania reach 160 patients with MAP medicine, vitamins, and oral rehydration solution. That number represents 160 lives that were touched not just with health and healing, but with hope. Dr. Jivcu expressed his thanks to MAP for helping support this clinic’s ministry. “The medications that MAP provided served this community well.”

Winter 2024

FOCUS: Medical Mission Program MAP’s Medical Mission Program works to equip medical students, church teams, hospitals, non-profits, and other health organizations to address the medical needs of the world’s hardest to reach places. In 2024, this program aims to provide more than 750 medical mission packs and support medical missions in more than 80 countries. Dr. Denise Ranucci, an obstetrician and gynecologist, recently led a surgical mission team to Mindoro, Philippines. Her team was comprised of volunteer surgeons and medical professionals like herself. Thanks to the donated time and surgical supplies — many of which came from MAP — their mission “was a huge success.” When they arrived at their host facility in the Philippines, the medical resources the team had at their disposal were meager at best. “The operating room (OR) at the local hospital in Mindoro lacked many basic OR and hospital supplies,” Dr. Ranucci reported. “But with everyone’s input and hard work, we were able to create our own OR/PACU/Recovery Room infrastructure.” The surgical supplies from MAP were of great value as the team came up with creative ways to serve their patients. “With the supplies and equipment we

were able to procure, we were able to effectively provide much-needed surgical and medical intervention and better the lives of many patients there,” Dr. Ranucci said. Dr. Ranucci’s team performed 15 major gynecologic surgeries, 10 ear, nose and throat surgical procedures, and over 20 general surgical operations that week. “I thank you again for all your support and generosity,” she wrote to MAP.

FOCUS: Bringing Children Health Program In 2024, our Bringing Children Health program is expanding to provide more than 750,000 pediatric antibiotic treatments to children in some of the world’s poorest countries.

When Efrain came into the mission clinic in rural Honduras, struggling on crutches, he was not only in danger of losing his leg. The child had two abscesses and was in danger of becoming septic. The pain was immense. Unable to convince his family to take Efrain to the nearest hospital, the mission team gave him a month’s supply of pediatric antibiotics, donated by MAP International, to try to clear the infection, as well as ibuprofen for the pain. Thankfully, due to the diligence of the health clinic staff in Chisec, they were able to visit the child and his family and eventually convince them to travel to the hospital. There Efrain was able to receive IV antibiotics and scans of his leg to determine the best course of treatment as he begins the long road to recovery. Efrain was one of the fortunate ones. Without the antibiotics from MAP, he could have easily lost his leg and even his life. Because of MAP supporters’ generosity, this child has a chance to heal.

medicine for all people

FOCUS: Chronic Disease Program Chronic diseases — like cardiovascular disease — are some of the leading causes of death and disability worldwide. MAP distributes medicine, surgical sutures and health supplies to treat chronic diseases through hundreds of partners.

a procedure that he could afford but it would only manage his symptoms for a short while — not fix the problem. Or he could have open-heart surgery. But for that, he would need to pay the hospital 6 million Naira (the equivalent of over $7,600 in the U.S.) — an astronomical sum that he could never afford.

Tony is a devoted husband, father of two young children, and teacher at a local university in Nigeria. One day when Tony experienced some unusual chest pain while exercising, he knew something was wrong. His wife, who was a nurse, urged him to go to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with acute coronary syndrome. At first, his doctor prescribed him simple blood pressure medication, but that was ineffective. He

continued to experience chest pain, which soon started to radiate through his chest and into his arm so severely that he did not have the strength to pick up his children. So back to the hospital he went. Tony’s options were grim. He could get a pacemaker installed,

But God had other plans for Tony. The volunteer cardiac surgeons were able to perform Tony’s heart surgery using donated supplies from MAP, and within 18 hours of the operation, Tony was up and walking. He made a full recovery and is now back to living his life as a professional with his family — full of gratitude for the days that he has been given, and full of hope for the future.

MAKE AN IMPACT THROUGH A DONOR ADVISED FUND A donor-advised fund (DAF) allows individuals, families and businesses to make taxdeductible gifts of cash, publicly-traded stock and in some cases, certain illiquid assets, to 501 (c)(3) MAP International. Giving through your DAF is an easy way to have a maximum impact in getting lifesaving medicine and health supplies to those who need them most. To schedule a gift from your DAF or to learn more, please visit map.org/DAF or call us at (800) 225-8550.

Because of you.

Today, smiles are chasing away tears for so many in forgotten places who now have health and hope because of your unwavering generosity. We dedicate our Winter 2024 Newsletter to our faithful supporters who make it possible for MAP International to carry out our calling to provide lifesaving medicines and health supplies for a world in desperate need. We hope you’ve been encouraged by what you’ve read. Please know, a gift in any amount will help ensure we have even more inspiring stories of redemption to share.

Give today!