New child medical exams: 445 Well child visits: 1,763
medical Services
Special needs children: 185 Surgeries: 75 Children with chronic conditions: 612 Children with HIV: 65 Therapies: 2,928 Children in red zone: 4 Treatment abroad: 4
The NPH International Medical Services department is a team of international healthcare professionals with experience in pediatrics, primary healthcare and public health who strive to provide excellent healthcare to the children of NPH by advising National Directors and local healthcare staff, delivering on-site training and developing healthcare policy and procedures based on international primary care standards, using evidence-based medicine as our guide whenever is possible. NPH was very blessed this year with priceless support from abroad. Several children from Haiti who had very complicated medical and surgical conditions were sent to U.S. and Europe in the aftermath of the earthquake; they all returned safely. Wilder from Guatemala finally received a kidney transplant in Italy after waiting more than three years. Dennis from Nicaragua traveled to Switzerland to have eye surgery. Two pequeños from Nicaragua traveled to Honduras to the Holy Family Surgical Center, an outstanding program run by Dr. Peter Daly, to have orthopedic procedures. Brenda is closer to the day she will receive a donated kidney. Yudelkis, from the Dominican Republic, had life-saving, open-heart surgery in Spain. NPH Spain signed an agreement with a network of hospitals in Barcelona for treating special medical cases; the hospitals even offered to provide NPH healthcare staff, including nurses and physicians, with training and scholarships. Furthermore, an agreement with Iberia airlines will provide transportation for NPH children with medical conditions. The overall report card for NPH clinics shows improvement in the integral healthcare of our children. Local staff have been implementing and running a comprehensive NPH Healthcare Program, based on the NPH health policy. Measures such as the “new child” medical exam, a full and comprehensive medical exam for each new child entering NPH, and the “well child visit,” an annual or biannual medical exam each child in the home receives, have proved to be very essential and valuable. Both initiatives allowed us to proceed with early interventions in several cases.
Preventive community public health measures are showing promising results, such as decreases in the number of skin and digestive system problems. The number of tuberculosis cases has also diminished. Protective screens on windows, fumigation, the testing of drinking water on a regular basis and programs teaching our children about the importance of hand-washing are among the preventive, reinforced measures. The number of children vaccinated this year from national immunization programs grew slightly. Vaccine availability remains a tremendous challenge. Most of the time, NPH has to rely on national programs to immunize our children; otherwise, the cost would jump exponentially. To tackle not having certain vaccines from national public health systems, NPH local Project Coordinators and Regional Medical Coordinators are developing several Intranet projects to fund these vaccines. The strategic objectives for our homes include: reducing the incidence of infectious diseases, providing outstanding integral care of our HIV+ children; preventing and reducing diseases and disabilities with early intervention; promoting health and development with education and by preventing or reducing risk factors, such as use of tobacco, alcohol, drugs or other substances; reducing unhealthy diets; increasing physical inactivity; promoting healthier environments; improving general nutrition and the overall management and delivery of health services. We are developing curriculum to improve the emotional and psychological support for children living with HIV. We are looking to partner with an organization or individual with a medical background and HIV experience to implement and monitor the program. All our work would not be accomplished without the support of so many benefactors, experts, and the spirit of Father Wasson guiding us from above. Pilar Silverman, MD Executive Director of Medical Services, NPH International NPHI 2010 Annual Report 5