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Overview of: Hospital Boats, Amazon River Basin, Peru
Base of Operations: Iquitos Peru
Mission
To initiate, promote, and coordinate medical treatment, education and research, and related activities in the Peruvian Amazon.
Need
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) "indigenous and tribal peoples in a wide range of developing countries suffer overwhelmingly from malaria, tuberculosis, respiratory and diarrheal disease, as well as from nutritional deficiencies." The lack of immunity to imported illnesses, isolation, and poverty experienced by the indigenous populations of Peru's upper Amazon region contribute significantly to an overall poor condition of health within these communities.
Objective
Through a partnership between AidJoy, Peru's Loreto region Ministry of Health, The University of Mississippi School of Medicine, Project Amazonas, and Rivers of the World (ROW), we seek to finance, build, equip and staff an Amazon medical boat to address the needs of remote and under-served jungle villages and communities in the Peruvian Amazon. The proposed steel-hull boat will be able to house 16 medical personnel, and will have dedicated dental, minor surgery, and pharmacy rooms, as well as attending rooms that can be opened into a meeting hall.
Activities and programs to be undertaken by the Amazon medical boat:
1. Provision of regular and modern health services and education to the inhabitants of remote river villages and communities, while emphasizing self-reliance and the use of effective traditional remedies and treatments.
2. Solicitation of donations of medicines, medical supplies, reference materials and equipment for the conduct of medical operations. Coordination and distribution of shipments of donated medical materials to hospitals, clinics, and doctors in the Department of Loreto in the Peruvian Amazon.
3. Training of health workers in remote communities for the treatment of independently manageable ailments. Provision of these health workers and communities with basic medical kits, as well as provision of instructional materials for the teaching of preventive medicine by health workers and teachers.
4. Arranging and coordinating visits to the Peruvian Amazon by volunteer health and development professionals, and by appropriate student groups, for the purposes of contributing services and training, and/or participation in health/educational training activities.
5. Initiation of child health programs in the areas of infectious disease and nutritional health.
6. Treatments of medical conditions where possible, while emphasizing disease prevention (health education) and the cultural preservation of effective traditional remedies and health practices.
7. In coordination with the School of Medicine of the National University of the Peruvian Amazon, the development of a tropical medicine course for both national and international participants. Part of the tropical medicine course would take place in the city of Iquitos, Peru, while part of it would be based aboard the Amazon medical boat.
Effect
Project Amazonas has been addressing the medical needs of indigenous people in the Peruvian Amazon since 1994. Annually, the medical boats provide care for 6,000 - 8,000 people. The new hospital boat will triple the number of people attended to, and provide these patients with more comprehensive medical care.
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