Want to join your FP colleagues in taking pharmaceuticals and medical instruments to the former Soviet republic of Tajikistan? That country -- bordering Afghanistan, China and other countries in central Asia -- is the destination of the Physicians With Heart airlift Oct. 13 - 23.
Family physicians joining the journey will help document the safe arrival of the donated medical aid. The FPs will also present symposia about family medicine, give an update on using the pharmaceuticals and present Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics courses. In addition, the Physicians With Heart delegation will bring donations to a residential school for orphans and other children in Yavan, Tajikistan.
For more information, call Heart to Heart staff at (405) 787-5200, Ext. 104, or visit "Physicians With Heart Airlift."
The annual airlift is a partnership of the Academy; AAFP Foundation; and Heart to Heart International, a relief organization based in Olathe, Kan. The project, begun in 1993, aims to mobilize resources to improve health, provide medical education and foster the development of family medicine worldwide.
"The State Department has rented the C-17 cargo jet from the Air Force for this mission, it's such a high priority to the U.S. government," says Daniel Ostergaard, M.D., AAFP vice president for international and interprofessional activities. "The State Department wants to reach out to this country because of its long border with Afghanistan, because Tajikistan is desperately poor and because some family physicians from America are already there working to develop family medicine as part of the rebuilding of Tajikistan's health infrastructure." The FPs currently in Tajikistan are working with organizations funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, Ostergaard says.
Heart to Heart officials will make their second advance visit to Tajikistan in early May to organize in-country elements of the project.
Deadlines: Submit your $500 deposit (nonrefundable) and application by July 15, provide a second payment of $1,500 by Aug. 15, and make a final payment of $1,500 by Sept. 15. The package price includes round-trip transportation from New York to Dushanbe, Tajikistan; meals; lodging; receptions; two nights in Moscow; and cultural events. Note: If you think you'd like to ride in the C-17 cargo plane carrying the donated products -- traveling from Andrews Air Force Base in Prince George's County, Maryland, to Dushanbe in a jump seat (similar to stadium-style seating at a ballpark) -- call Heart to Heart and ask about this option.
