Clinics First Project

The village clinics are the first source of health care for most people in the region. A survey of some of the clinics in the fall of 2008 found many of them lacking even the most basic equipment -- even a blood pressure cuff or a thermometer. Working with our medical consultant and the CEUM health team, we have compiled a "package" that will provide every clinic with essential diagnostic equipment, along with microscopes as well as bicycles for the nurses who staff the clinics. The total cost of this initiative is approximately $150,000. We have begun acquiring medical instruments and supplies, through gifts in kind and purchases made with donations already received. The first of these items are already on the ground in Congo, and we are moving forward in response to priorities identified by the CEUM's medical leaders.
   
Bokonzo clinicWe expect the Clinics First program to achieve two goals. First, we will make an immediate and significant improvement in the basic health care available to the people of the Ubangi. More people will turn to the clinics for help when they know that they are equipped to meet their needs.
 
Second, by drawing more people to the clinics, which serve as a feeder system to the CEUM hospitals, we expect to increase the patient census at the hospitals. More people relying on CEUM clinics, when combined with more people earning cash incomes, will lead to more people turning to the hospitals for further care -- and being able to pay the small fees that are asked of them.
 
We are also exploring a type of health insurance program. While people in the area do not have cash, most are small farmers. We believe that a participant could pay in advance for a year's health care using a portion of his or her crop. We would then work with local wholesalers to sell the products received, and the proceeds would go towards the medical system's operating costs.

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