Partners In Health (PIH) is a Boston, Massachusetts-based non-profit health care organization dedicated to providing a "preferential option for the poor". It was founded in 1987 by Dr. Paul Farmer, Ophelia Dahl, Thomas J. White, Todd McCormack, and Dr. Jim Yong Kim.
PIH strives to provide an alternative to the conventional curative method of treatment for the sick and instead tries to prevent diseases before they occur. This model believes that primary health care is essential because health is a right and therefore, it should be available to everyone. PIH strives to bring good medical care to the poor by establishing long-term partnerships with local sister organizations.
The organization's model is described as being one in which: clinical and community barriers to care are removed as diagnosis and treatment are declared a public good and made available free of charge to patients living in poverty. For people living in poverty stricken areas, the treatment of AIDS and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) has been made possible by this model of care.
The idea for Partners In Health first began when Paul Farmer and Ophelia Dahl helped set up a community-based health project in Cange, Haiti known as Zanmi Lasante ("Partners in Health"). For a number of years the organization focused its efforts almost exclusively on treating HIV/AIDS patients in rural Haiti. In the past decade, the organization's mission has expanded to include a more holistic approach to tackling disease and poverty. PIH devotes considerable resources to providing food, water, education and housing to sick patients. The organization also advocates for human rights both at the governmental and international NGO level.
In 1993, Dr. Farmer founded the Institute for Health and Social Justice (IHSJ), which is the research and advocacy arm of PIH. The IHSJ was founded using the proceeds of Dr. Farmer's John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Award. The mission of the IHSJ is to analyze the impact of poverty and inequality on health, and to use these findings to educate and train students, academics, donors, policy makers, and lay people. As of 2006, the IHSJ is under the direction of Dr. Joia Mukherjee, PIH's Chief Medical Officer.
PIH is a Harvard-affiliated NGO. The organization works closely with Harvard's School of Public Health and the Brigham and Women's Hospital.
One of the defining features that separates PIH from other NGOs is its commitment to hiring and training people who live in the communities where the organization works. Of the nearly 15,000 employees working for PIH, fewer than 150 are American.
PIH is an official supporting organization of Healthcare Information For All by 2015, a global initiative that aims to improve the availability and use of reliable healthcare information in low-income countries.
Read more about Partners In Health: Response To The Haiti Earthquake
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