Historically, the majority of Direct Relief’s in-country health partners are the only source of health services for people living in poverty, in remote areas, or both. By necessity, these partners provide a broad range of services, including emergency medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics, and gynecology.
USA
Venice Family Clinic, Los Angeles
Comprehensive primary health care, health education, and child development services were delivered free of charge through the Venice Family Free Clinic to 21,203 patients in 2005. The clinic was established in 1970 in response to the lack of medical services, such as immunizations and other primary care services, available to low-income families in Venice, California. Today, the small clinic has grown into a model of care. It is the largest free clinic in the United States serving the uninsured, working poor of Los Angeles County. Nearly 75 percent of Venice Family Free Clinic’s patients are below the federal poverty line, and many hold two or three jobs. In 2005, 17 percent of patients treated were homeless men, women, and children. The clinic serves patients primarily from Venice, Santa Monica, Palms, Mar Vista, Inglewood, and Culver City. With seven shipments since 2002 of critically needed antibiotics, analgesics, nutritional supplements, and personal care products, Direct Relief continues to support the Venice Family Free Clinic with essential medicines needed to provide primary care to those who would otherwise go without medical services. Donations have provided full courses of medical treatment to 13,920 people and are valued at $299,806 (wholesale).
PERU
Archdiocese of Lima Health Project
The Archdiocese of Lima, Peru operates a comprehensive program to support the delivery of health care services to low-income and impoverished people in Peru that includes five urban health centers and a clinic in the squatter settlement of Manchay, located just south of Peru’s sprawling capital city of Lima.
The settlement of Manchay is located on a barren plain with no running water, no sewage system, no paved roads and only sporadic electric power; first populated by native mountain populations, 20 years of guerrilla warfare drove the original inhabitants of Manchay off their lands. Today, Manchay is populated by squatters working mainly as laborers in Lima, and access to primary health care was not readily available before the 2003 construction of Manchay clinic. Since the construction of the clinic, staffed and operated by the Archdiocese of Lima, basic primary care services are available including immunizations, nutritional programs, prenatal care, and child wellness exams to approximately 300,000 patients annually. With one of the highest rates of infant mortality in South America – at 42 deaths per 1,000 births – the provision of primary health care services available through the Manchay Clinic allows for healthier mothers and families. Direct Relief has assisted the Manchay Clinic from its inception with specifically requested medicines, nutritional products, first aid supplies, and personal care products to provide a total of 902,592 full courses of treatment with a wholesale value of $3,169,084 since 2003. In addition to the Manchay Clinic, the Archdiocese of Lima operates five parish health centers offering a similar range of services to the urban poor of Lima.