Physicians With Heart Gears Up for Tajikistan

Physicians With Heart will travel to the former Soviet republic of Tajikistan from Oct. 23-Nov. 1 to deliver a sizable load of humanitarian aid as well as family medicine education.

"This is a special mission because we were in Tajikistan just two years ago," said Daniel Ostergaard, M.D., AAFP vice president for international and interprofessional activities. "Physicians With Heart has never returned to a country that quickly."

Physicians With Heart, or PWH, which is a collaborative effort of the Academy; the AAFP Foundation; and Heart to Heart International, a humanitarian organization based in Olathe, Kan., has been airlifting support to former Soviet republics since 1993. PWH also made a trip to Vietnam in 2001.

"We're going back to Tajikistan -- at the request of the State Department -- to augment the work done with the Western and Tajikistan doctors who are working there full time to develop family medicine in this most impoverished country of the former Soviet Union," said Ostergaard.

Family physicians and others who travel with the PWH airlift will help deliver millions of dollars of donated pharmaceuticals, medical equipment and medical supplies; provide education on family medicine; conduct Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics courses; and hand-deliver provisions to orphaned and disabled children at two local institutions.

Ostergaard encouraged AAFP members to participate. More information, including an application form, (PDF file: 2 pages / 88 KB. More about PDFs.) is available online. E-mail questions regarding the Tajikistan airlift to Rebecca Janssen, a senior program coordinator at the AAFP.

Donations to the PWH Children's Project can made online through the AAFP Foundation.