Ebola Primer and Liberia
Aug 01 2014
Senator William H. Frist, MD
As I hope you’ve heard, there is an outbreak of the Ebola virus in Western Africa right now, particularly in Liberia. Two American aid workers, Dr. Kent Brantly with Samaritan’s Purse and Nancy Writebol, a volunteer working with the faith group Service in Mission, were recently infected.I’ve been discussing the situation with the Centers for Disease Control, and I wanted to write a little bit about the transmission and natural history of the virus.
Ebola is a type of viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF). Four families of viruses cause VHFs, and Ebola is from the family Filoviredae. Dengue fever, Yellow fever, Crimean Congo fever, Hantavirus and Lassa fever are other types of VHFs you may have heard of.
We are excited to share this update from our friends at Seed. We can't wait to hear about the great things that come from this class of volunteers!
We are thrilled to announce the new class of Global Health Service Partnership Volunteers has arrived in Washington DC for orientation. This class of 42 volunteers is made up of a remarkable group of US physicians and nurses. They come from 22 states from around the US, range in age from their late twenties to late sixties, represent myriad specialties including obstetrics and gynecology, anesthesia, surgery, and mental health, and seven are returned Peace Corps Volunteers eager to apply their clinical experience in service. They are made up of 19 physicians and 23 nurses who will return to our partner sites in Malawi, Tanzania and Uganda. We are proud that three are first year GHSP volunteers who have decided to continue for a second year.
We are thrilled to announce the new class of Global Health Service Partnership Volunteers has arrived in Washington DC for orientation. This class of 42 volunteers is made up of a remarkable group of US physicians and nurses. They come from 22 states from around the US, range in age from their late twenties to late sixties, represent myriad specialties including obstetrics and gynecology, anesthesia, surgery, and mental health, and seven are returned Peace Corps Volunteers eager to apply their clinical experience in service. They are made up of 19 physicians and 23 nurses who will return to our partner sites in Malawi, Tanzania and Uganda. We are proud that three are first year GHSP volunteers who have decided to continue for a second year.
It Makes Sense to Invest in Girls
Jul 02 2014
Kate Etue, Director of Communications
We're loving this infographic from The Girl Effect that shows why it's so smart to invest in girls. Read it and share it. Girls matter, and our world need them strong, healthy, and educated. By ending child marriage and child motherhood, we allow a generation of girls to stay in school, become educated, and contribute back to their local economy. And this will change the world.
Senator Frist's new USAID video on family planning—the healthy timing and spacing of pregnancy—is a great, concise explanation of the problems centered around maternal mortality and what we can do to help, because we know it works. Take 1 minute and 52 seconds to watch it. It'll be worth your time.
Notes from the Road: Retrospective on Rwanda
Jun 25 2014
Sen. Bill Frist
I’ve been home from Rwanda and Kenya only a few days and I’m already on another flight, heading back to Aspen, this time for the Aspen Ideas Festival Spotlight: Health, co-sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.It’s on flights that I have time to reflect on a few takeaways, drawn from the myriad impressions and experiences I gathered in Rwanda. I tell everyone that journeys to Africa are life-changing and indeed this one was for me, and hopefully those who joined me.
Notes from the Road: Mountain Gorillas
Jun 20 2014
Sen. Bill Frist
*I’m in Rwanda this week representing Hope Through Healing Hands with Dr. Paul Farmer, Partners in Health Rwanda, and Harvard Medical School. These dispatches from the road are my personal journal–recording what I’ve seen and learned on this trip. See my pre-trip thoughts, and blogs from Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.Today we went to see some of Rwanda’s natural treasures: mountain gorillas.
Sen. Bill Frist
*I’m in Rwanda this week representing Hope Through Healing Hands with Dr. Paul Farmer, Partners in Health Rwanda, and Harvard Medical School. These dispatches from the road are my personal journal–recording what I’ve seen and learned on this trip. See my pre-trip thoughts, Monday’s blog, and Tuesday’s notes.This morning we met with patients and physicians at Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Kigali (CHUK), the urban hospital equivalent. For the past few days we have explored Paul Farmer’s vision of taking health care to the people in rural areas, so often neglected around the world. Today we looked at health care in the city.
Notes from the Road: Cancer Care in Rural Africa
Jun 18 2014
Senator Bill Frist
*I’m in Rwanda this week representing Hope Through Healing Hands with Dr. Paul Farmer, Partners in Health Rwanda, and Harvard Medical School. These dispatches from the road are my personal journal–recording what I’ve seen and learned on this trip. See my pre-trip thoughts, and Monday’s blog.Who says you can’t treat patients suffering from cancer in the poorest, most rural parts of the world?
I’m writing on my iPhone on a bumpy dirt road that I am told will be paved next year. It winds for two hours through gorgeous green mountains sculpted with terraced plots of land and scattered homes stepped up and down the hillside.
Sen. Bill Frist
Why are we in Rwanda? What makes it a unique place to learn about health policy, and health care delivery? What will we learn that can make us smarter as we address health issues back at home?I thought through these questions on the flight to Rwanda, and I had plenty of time. It’s been a long series of flights—Aspen to Denver to Chicago to New York to Amsterdam to Kigali. But the real journey began today as we saw our first health facilities.
Today (Monday), the delegation piled into a Land Rover after breakfast for the 2.5 hour drive to our first stop: the Partners in Health (PIH) headquarters at Rwinkwavu. We toured the Rwinkwavu District Hospital & Health Center, which was funded in part by the Rwandan government, PIH, and Bill & Melinda Gates.