Expanded Partnership Strengthens African Medical Capacity for Years to Come
One of the greatest challenges facing the 400 million children in Africa is a critical shortage of trained medical professionals. The lack of access to care forces parents to delay medical care and/or seek dangerous medical alternatives to their children’s ailments. Increasing the medical capacity at every level of the medical community is essential if the world wants to avoid a health crisis in the near future as Africa’s population continues to grow exponentially.
That’s where MedSend comes in. MedSend is a faith-based nonprofit organization that invests in the training of qualified healthcare professionals to serve long-term in high-need areas of the world. The Christian organization’s mission runs parallel to CURE International’s mission to provide surgical help to people in need and model the love of Christ that is shown in the Gospels.
MedSend currently sponsors five national physicians who are participating in the five-year-long pediatric orthopedic residency program through the Pan African Academy of Christian Surgeons (PAACS) at CURE Kenya. In order to grow the partnership and further expand the availability of Christian healthcare providers across Africa, MedSend has pledged to sponsor two additional doctors, both from Ethiopia, who will each begin their own five-year pediatric residency programs at CURE Hospitals in Kenya and Ethiopia.
“CURE is truly blessed to have strategic partners like MedSend to help expand access to healthcare around the world to reach those who need it most. By choosing to invest in the next generation of Christian African surgeons, MedSend will transform the lives of thousands of children waiting for surgery in the years to come.” – Justin Narducci, President and CEO of CURE International
Our specialist surgeons in CURE Kenya and CURE Ethiopia devote many hours a week to mentoring and training these talented junior doctors. This valuable investment will make a significant impact in expanding the availability of surgical care in their respective countries. After residency, each of these highly trained surgeons will be able to treat thousands of children and train dozens of other physicians throughout their careers.
“For 30 years, MedSend has been at the forefront of enabling US trained medical professionals to serve the most vulnerable and marginalized populations globally. Yet we also wanted to help with long term sustainability, and capacity building, by shifting from solely the provision of US trained medical professionals to the training of national healthcare workers. As such, we have been honored to provide scholarships for national surgeons to be trained through CURE.” – Rick Allen, CEO, MedSend
The ripple effects of the expanded partnership between CURE and MedSend cannot be understated: potentially tens of thousands of children will receive life-changing care because of the intentional investment in building local surgical capacity.
About CURE International
CURE International is a Christian nonprofit organization that operates a global network of pediatric surgical hospitals, which serve one of the world’s most marginalized and vulnerable populations – children with disabilities. Patients at CURE hospitals suffer from orthopedic, neurosurgical, and maxillofacial conditions that limit their mobility/functionality and opportunities for education and employment. In addition to world-class clinical service, CURE intentionally ministers to the emotional and spiritual needs of patients in its care and invests in training programs that aim to equip the next generation of health workers and strengthen national health care systems. Since inception, CURE has conducted more than 5.3 million patient visits and 330,000 surgical procedures around the world. For more information, visit https://cure.org/.