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USAID ANNOUNCES GRANT TO CMMB TO BOLSTER CHILD SURVIVAL EFFORTS IN HAITI

Washington, DC, October 24, 2003 — Andrew S. Natsios, Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), announced today a $500,000 grant to the Catholic Medical Mission Board (CMMB) to save children's lives in Haiti. CMMB is a New York-based philanthropic organization that provides healthcare to people in need worldwide.

Through this grant, CMMB will provide essential drugs for young children suffering from respiratory infections and diarrheal diseases, build capacity, improve the health system, and leverage the vast network of faith-based organizations in Haiti in support of healthcare efforts. In this program, CMMB will partner with health organizations, faith-based groups, the private sector, and others to improve healthcare for impoverished Haitian children.

At least 500,000 young children die every year in Latin America. Approximately one-third of these deaths can be easily prevented and treated. USAID research found that simply training health workers, for example, to diagnose and treat pneumonia in children is an intervention that can significantly reduce deaths from that disease.

“Child health is a global moral imperative,” said Dr. E. Anne Peterson, Assistant Administrator, USAID's Bureau for Global Health. “Proven interventions can not only prevent deaths, but allow children to grow up into healthy and productive adults.”

In speaking of the opportunity to build capacity offered by the grant, John F. Galbraith, President and Chief Executive Officer of CMMB, stated: “We are immensely pleased to receive this grant from USAID. It will be put to work immediately to expand the reach of our programs. It takes only a short amount of time in Haiti for one to realize the huge need for effective healthcare for the children of that country. USAID and CMMB share the belief that no child should die of easily treatable illnesses and we are dedicated to preventing unnecessary deaths as energetically as possible.”

“This grant underlines the concern and commitment of the people of the United States for the people of Haiti,” said Adolfo Franco, USAID's Assistant Administrator for Latin America and the Caribbean. “USAID is very pleased to support the Catholic Medical Mission Board in its important work saving the lives of Haitian children.”

In Haiti, 125 children under five years old die per thousand births. CMMB with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) will reduce death and the frequency and severity of illness and disability among children by targeting the five major killer diseases that afflict children under five: respiratory infections, diarrheal diseases, mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS, nutrition-related illnesses, and perinatal complications.

USAID is directing global attention and action on the unfinished child survival agenda by focusing on coordinated action among international partners, and using existing resources, funding, and coordination mechanisms more efficiently and effectively.

USAID provided over $71 million in humanitarian and development assistance to Haiti during fiscal year 2003. This represents an increase of $16 million, or almost 30%, over fiscal year 2002. The United States continues to be the largest single donor to Haiti.

This grant supports USAID's strategy in the Latin America and Caribbean region to increase access to selected health services; increase the efficiency and equity of basic health services, especially at decentralized levels; and spur reform related to decentralization, strengthening of healthcare, and setting quality standards.

In addition to health, USAID assistance to Haiti includes programs to strengthen democracy, generate income and employment for the poor, improve access to education, and provide food assistance.

About CMMB
Dr. Paluel Flagg, an anesthesiologist at St. Vincent’s Hospital Manhattan, after working as a volunteer with lepers in Haiti, founded the Catholic Medical Mission Board in 1928. Today, CMMB works collaboratively with programs that fight HIV/AIDS in Africa, combat tuberculosis in Zambia, and treat early childhood diseases in Latin America and the Caribbean. Global aid initiatives include: recruitment and placement of medical volunteers, medicine and medical supply shipments, emergency relief, and training grants for in-country primary healthcare workers. In fiscal year 2003, CMMB provided more than US$130 million in global aid, primarily through its network of faith-based organizations throughout the world.

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Contact:
Claudia Hite
CMMB Communications
212-609-2581
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Norma Vavolizza
NV Communications
212-687-0607
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