Ten million people live in extreme poverty in Mesoamerica, the geographical and cultural area that extends from central Mexico down through Central America. For the men, women and children who are ill and also homeless, not having any access to medical care leaves them extremely vulnerable.
Mirna Ramirez, a Nicaraguan immigrant living in Costa Rica contracted the AIDS virus through her husband. Her devastation was compounded after lear-ning their newborn baby also tested positive. Mirna and her family were forced out of the family home by other family members and living on the street. They often spent their nights sleeping on chairs in the waiting room of a local hospital's emergency wing, before finding their way to Shelter of Hope.
The San José shelter provides an integrated healthcare model, which includes medical care through its clinic, for people affected by HIV, drug dependency, and who live in extreme poverty. It's run by Humanitas Association, a partner of Canadian humanitarian organization Horizons of Friendship — a Canadian charitable organization that works exclusively in Central America and Mexico. The organization receives matching grants from the Canadian International Development Agency for its self-help community development projects in the Mesoamerican region.
The Shelter of Hope Medical Clinic provides care for 25 residents, 35 people who live on the street, and 35 women who along with Mirna Ramirez, are part of a “Women for Life” group who meet weekly at the shelter. Medical care is also provided for 60 boys and girls, who are family members of the HIV positive women's group.
Needed medicine arrives
In 2009, representatives from Horizons of Friendship brought three Physican Travel Packs (PTPs), supplied by Health Partners International of Canada, to the clinic in Costa Rica. Each PTP consists of two boxes of essential medicines and supplies, donated by Canadian pharmaceutical and healthcare products companies.
Pfizer Canada manufactures several of the donated medicines that were used by staff to treat the diverse ailments and medical conditions of the patients at the clinic.
Dr. Christian Montoya Hernández noted the importance of having Diflucan to treat fungal infections — frequently experienced by the patients — and Arthrotec, which treats the pain and swelling of inflammation.
Centrum and Centrum Junior, multivitams and minerals for adults and children, were also provided to Mirna, her family and dozens of other patients — an important factor in maintaining immune function.
Dr. Hernández expressed the benefits the donated medicines had on both the individual patient's lives and institutions like Shelter of Hope, that provide support to the community.
“The opportunity to help extraordinary people like Dr. Hernández and her team, to treat infection and give hope and health to children and families in such dire need, is a humbling honour. It's consistent with our corporate value of working together for a healthier world,” says Ghislain Boudreau, Vice-President of Public Affairs and Stakeholder Relations at Pfizer Canada.
Since 1994 Pfizer Canada has dona-ted a range of needed and high-quality medicines, such as antibiotics, antifungals and antiinflammatories, worth over $50 million, for HPIC to provide aid to people in the developing world.
