News release

HPIC provides essential medical supplies for Congolese hospital

Montreal, QC (July 14, 2008) - Mapenzi and her three daughters were severely burned in a plane crash. Bahati was gang-raped by a roaming militia. Freddy was shot in the leg as he tried to protect his family. They are among the thousands who pass through the doors of HEAL Africa hospital in Goma, the Democratic Republic of Congo every year, and who are cared for with medical supplies from Health Partners International of Canada.

Another container of top-quality Canadian medical supplies left the HPIC Distribution Centre in Mississauga on June 25, on its way to the DRC and the patients who desperately need care.

HEAL Africa is a general hospital which specializes in obstetric and trauma-caused fistula repair and orthopedic care. The majority of people who come to HEAL Africa are extremely poor and have no other hope for medical attention. The hospital provides its patients with the highest quality of health care in the region and continues to train African doctors to do the same.

The present shipment of medical supplies from HPIC will be used both in Goma at the hospital and in the interior when teams go to operate on patients in other provinces covered by HEAL Africa programs. This shipment is needed to allow the team to continue to give high level care at no or low cost to patients. It also allows medical students to see what can be done when a hospital has proper materials at its disposal.

According to Connie Smith, health professional working for HPIC in Goma, the beneficiaries will include women suffering from the consequences of sexual violence, children undergoing surgery to recover from disabilities such as clubfoot, and trauma patients, especially young men injured through motorcycle accidents or gun wounds.

Smith also emphasizes the important benefits of giving the staff the best resources possible to do their job. "This keeps up morale on the nursing and medical teams," she says, and even encourages Congolese doctors to stay in their country to practice medicine.

This shipment represents the third 40-foot container of medical aid from HPIC destined for the people of Goma through HEAL Africa Hospital.

HPIC (Health Partners International of Canada) is a medical aid organization dedicated to improving access to health care and medicine in the developing world. Since 1990, HPIC has provided more than $250 million of medical aid to 116 countries. www.hpicanada.ca

About HPIC

Health Partners International of Canada is a humanitarian not-for-profit relief and development organization dedicated to improving access to medicine and enhancing health in the developing world. HPIC contributes to well-being by providing donated essential medicines, supplies and vaccines, building national health sector capacities, and responding to emergencies and health threats. We partner with a network of ministries of health, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and healthcare professionals, with pharmaceutical and healthcare product companies, and with Canadian government departments; and we count on the financial support of individual donors, foundations and corporations. Because of our unique model, HPIC multiplies every donated dollar to provide, without discrimination, at least $10 of free medical aid.

For more information contact:
Christina Parsons
Director, Corporate Communications
514-822-1112, ext. 119
email: