I haven't had the chance to go on anymore exciting field visits yet, but I have become more familiar with how NGOs work. My supervisor has been out of the country for the last two weeks and consequently I've been given a lot more responsibility. For example, I lead this month's meeting of the Quality Improvement Task Force. The Q.I. Task Force meets monthly to discuss issues pertaining to the quality and guidelines of the care and support of orphans and other vulnerable children (OVC) in Tanzania. My supervisor is a co-chair on the task force and she usually hosts the meeting but I led the meeting in her absence. The task force is in the process of developing national guidelines for quality improvement of OVC care as well as a household status tool to be used in assessing the household conditions of OVC. The discussion about the process of creating and revising the documents gave me insight into how national guidelines for development work are established and the relationship between governmental ministries and non-governmental organizations.
Senator Frist's first trip in Medical Missions was with Dr. Dick Furman and World Medical Missions, an affililate of Samaritan's Purse.

Samaritan's Purse has been doing good work in Sudan for some time. I thought it appropriate to highlight their work, in support of their continued efforts, here as we focus on Sudan this month.

Secretary Clinton's Africa Trip

Aug 4, 2009

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s Africa trip, August 3 to 14, features a tough and demanding agenda: she will be visiting dangerously conflicted Kenya, Congo, and Nigeria; holding a brief exchange with a Somali transition government close to succumbing to a radical Islamist movement affiliated with al Qaeda; reassuring unsteady postwar Liberia; and opening a dialogue with a newly formed government in South Africa, which confronts worsening internal economic strains and remains visibly befuddled by the continuing crisis in neighboring Zimbabwe. The secretary’s agenda bears little resemblance to President Bill Clinton’s spring 1998 Africa renaissance tour or the similarly optimistic tones of President George W. Bush’s summer 2003 and spring 2008 trips.

For full article-- CLICK HERE.

Senator Frist has a forthcoming book that will release October 5: A Heart to Serve: A Passion to Bring Health, Hope, and Healing

In Chapter one, A Mission of Mercy, Frist shares his experience of flying into Lui, Sudan, under the radar, to perform surgery in a conflict zone. This experience was a foundational one which shaped his understanding and philosophy of health diplomacy and how offering health care can be a currency for peace around the world.

For CHAPTER ONE -- CLICK HERE.

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Don't forget to order your copy of the book on Amazon.com!

 

 

Dr. Frist has an op-ed in the Houston Chronicle titled "Improve World Health Care by Increasing Prosperity." 

July 31, 2009

..."As the health care reform debate unfolds domestically, we face an opportune moment to recalculate for the better how we maximize the success of our efforts abroad to strengthen global health. By looking holistically at global health systems — the capacity, the policies, the health and non-health infrastructure — we can pursue integrated action on all the components that go into making and keeping the world's poor healthy. For their sake and ours, let us seize this moment to do so."

Read the complete op-ed here.

Next week, Senator Bill Frist will be appearing on the following shows talking about domestic health care reform.    Hope you can tune in!

Monday, July 27, 2009
9:00pm (EDT)
CNBC
Meeting of the Minds: The Future of Health Care, hosted by Maria Bartiromo
http://meetingoftheminds.cnbc.com
 
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
8:00pm (EDT)
Fox News Channel
The O'Reilly Factor
http://www.foxnews.com/oreilly/
 
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Check Local Listings
PBS
Charlie Rose
http://www.charlierose.com/
 
Thursday, July 30, 2009
7:00am (EDT)
CNBC
Squawk Box
http://squawkbox.cnbc.com

Monday July 27 at 9 PM ET Maria Bartiromo will host a special on CNBC called "Meeting of The Minds:  The Future of Healthcare."  Senator Frist will be a guest along with several other healthcare experts.  The program is designed to crystallize what's at stake in one of the most important debates of our time. Please be sure to watch and leave a comment here after you do.  Senator Frist welcomes the input of everyone and is very interested in reading what the American people think of the debate currently underway.

Read more here.

My first two weeks in the office at Africare in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania have been surprisingly busy. In fact, on my first day I was asked to accompany two co-workers on a five-day trip west to Dodoma. In Dodoma we met with representatives from the other partner organizations involved in the COPE project. We also had the opportunity to visit a household and evaluate the impact of the aspect of the COPE project designed to assist orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) households in generating income.
We have made significant progress on the Munsieville Needs Assessment. After several drafts and two field tests, a final version of the survey was created. Our survey covers 11 topics that include health indicators such as housing, income, health behavior, and reproductive health. Our specific questions aim at health attitudes, general health knowledge and accessibility to health care and government services.

As we continue with the Munsieville Model, we must evaluate other settlements in the area for additional or alternative sites for Project Hope to establish programs. With the help of a local minister and director of a substance abuse center, Dave Gardner, another American, we have established contacts in Randfontein, a nearby city. We were introduced to Lucky, an eccentric Obama fanatic that is also the political representative of all of the informal settlements in one of the wards of the West Rand district.

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