“Limitless,” said Nurse-Midwife Isata Dumbuya, describing the access she had to blood as a clinician working for the United Kingdom’s National Health Service. “As many units as you needed would be available at the drop of a hat. “It’s a real life-changer in the maternity unit,” she continued. “When a Read more…
In Freetown, Sierra Leone, June 4 was a day of celebration at Sierra Leone Psychiatric Teaching Hospital (SLPTH), the only dedicated mental health facility in a country of 7 million people and the oldest psychiatric hospital in sub-Saharan Africa. Partners In Health staff, hospital staff and patients, and country leaders—including President Julius Maada Read more…
As the novel coronavirus continues to spread, patients aren’t just at risk of contracting its resulting illness, COVID-19. They also face higher risk for all other health issues, as many facilities must divert resources from routine medicine to emergency care. What’s more, COVID-19 is preventing families from seeking the care Read more…
In mid-March, when Dr. Chiyembekezo Kachimanga stood in front of a hushed crowd of Partners In Health staff members and began talking about COVID-19. The disease had not yet made its way to Sierra Leone–but he knew it soon would, and time was short. “It’s a very difficult pandemic; countries Read more…
Partners In Health employs or supports nearly 18,000 staff members in 11 countries around the world. More than 60 percent of those invaluable staffers are women, filling vital roles at all levels of the organization. In honour of International Women’s Day, which is celebrated March 8 and this year has a theme of Each Read more…
PIH Canada is thrilled to be one of 15 international NGOs sharing a ground-breaking $15-million gift from the Slaight Family Foundation to advance the health and human rights of women and girls worldwide. Through the Slaight Family Foundation’s support, PIH will be strengthening and expanding activities in Sierra Leone and Read more…
This month’s rollout of an electronic medical records system at a Partners In Health clinic in Sierra Leone already is having transformative impacts for patients, staff, and care. PIH’s eHealth team in the West African nation launched the electronic system Feb. 3 at Wellbody Clinic in Kono District, after months Read more…
Pregnancy and childbirth are often considered major life moments to celebrate, but they pose the risks of disability or death for millions of women who lack access to basic health care in marginalized communities. Partners In Health strives to address these inequalities by working with midwives–often expectant mothers’ most trusted Read more…
Lessons from an innovative Ebola screening and isolation unit for pregnant women, created five years ago in West Africa, could inform maternity care and save lives during the current outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a new study shows. A Partners In Health team opened the groundbreaking isolation unit in Read more…
When a young pregnant woman was rushed into the maternity ward at PIH-supported Koidu Government Hospital (KGH) in Kono, Sierra Leone, Isata Dumbuya, head of reproductive, maternal, neonatal, and child health, recognized the look of anguish on her team’s faces. The woman was in critical condition, suffering from pre-eclampsia. Had Read more…