Physicians With Heart airlift set for Siberia
The dates are set, and organizers are seeking contributions and volunteers for the sixth annual Physicians With Heart aid effort for the former Soviet Union.
In its first "dual airlift," Physicians With Heart -- a joint effort of the Academy, AAFP Foundation and the humanitarian organization Heart to Heart International -- will deliver medical supplies and pharmaceuticals Oct. 3-13 to Siberia and in spring 1999 to Uzbekistan. The October airlift will target hospitals in eight Siberian cities.
You can participate in two ways:
Serve on the delegation that will travel to Siberia with the airlift. Delegation members will get hands-on experience distributing humanitarian aid. They will tour recipient hospitals to document the safe arrival of supplies and conduct pharmaceutical updates. They also will discuss family practice as a specialty and provide an overview of family practice throughout the world to Siberian doctors. For more information, contact Kirsten Harrison, Heart to Heart project coordinator, at (619) 687-0343.
Plans for the Uzbekistan airlift are still being developed.
Contribute supplies, such as stethoscopes, otoscopes, blood pressure cuffs, and new or nearly new Physicians' Desk Reference books. These basic tools are urgently needed at many Siberian hospitals. Make sure your donation is part of the 1998 shipment by sending it to Heart to Heart. Call Barb Nielson, Heart to Heart procurement coordinator, at (913) 764-5200 for more details.
Since 1993, Physicians With Heart has distributed more than $40 million worth of medicines and supplies in the former Soviet republics of Armenia, Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan and Georgia.
FP Report is published by the AAFP News Department. Copyright © 1998 by American Academy of Family Physicians.
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