Boxes of gloves, respirators, intravenous solution, sanitizing wipes, and face shields: This is just a sample of what is in a shipment of excess medical supplies that Dana-Farber has prepared to send to hospitals in need in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The Institute is fortunate to be sitting on a glut of certain medical supplies that were difficult to come by after the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted supply chains. Instead of letting this inventory potentially expire, the distribution team, led by Andrew Madden, has been finding creative ways to put it to use, including a recent donation to a wildlife refuge. This idea came to David Read, vice president of Medical Oncology, and Timothy Rebbeck, PhD, director for the Center for Global Health Equity, through longtime collaborator and president emeritus Edward J. Benz, Jr., MD. Benz sits on the advisory board of the nonprofit Kulungu Corporation, an organization run by Congolese-native Bienvenu Kulungu, that seeks to improve healthcare in the DRC. “Our mission to reduce the burden of cancer does not end at the borders of Massachusetts,” Read says. “We have and will continue to partner with international organizations to help patients across the world.” For years, the eastern part of the African country has been ravaged by conflict between government forces, militia groups, and international armies vying for control of the DRC’s wealth of natural resources. Seven million people have been displaced by the violence and thousands have been killed. According to a 2017 United States Agency for International Development report, an estimated 70% of Congolese have little to no access to health care, and hospitals lack personnel and equipment. That situation has predictably worsened due to the ongoing fighting. “We are so grateful for these supplies,” says Kulungu. “They will help the Congolese people immensely.” It pains Kulungu to see his country struggling. “It is a place of much potential,” he explains. His nonprofit arose from a desire to help and was inspired by his father’s efforts to do the same before him. In many ways, their journeys mirror one another. His father attended university in the states before going back to the DRC, using his education to serve his community. Kulungu also came to the U.S. for an education and completed his bachelor's at the University of Massachusetts Boston. “I never forgot my home country,” he says. “I was always thinking about how I could use my education to help.” It was here that he had the chance to meet accomplished physicians like Benz and others working in the Boston area who encouraged him to start a non-profit. The Kulungu Corporation was founded in 2015 and has since been able to provide equipment to clinics and fund the training of medical personnel and projects to improve access to clean water. Dana-Farber's shipment represents one of the biggest donations Kulungu has received. “It will save lives,” he says.
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s Post
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Health journalist with extensive experience writing for both patients and healthcare practitioners
Thanks for chatting with me about this important issue, Jagdish Khubchandani, for MDLinx.com!
"Please Donate Blood". I discuss the national/global blood shortages with Lisa Marie Basile for this MDLinx article 🅰 🆎 🅱 🅾 https://lnkd.in/gY3nrQV3 #blooddonation #blood #healthcare
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🌟 Don't miss out on this important discussion! Join Dr. Norman Swan and the expert panel for a thought-provoking webinar on organ donation, ‘Why GPs are integral to increasing organ donation’. #OrganDonation #Webinar #Healthcare #Medicine #GPs #RACGP #CPD #Education #AustralianHealthcare #DonateLife #SaveLives
Join Dr Norman Swan and our expert panel for a thought-provoking webinar on organ donation, ‘Why GPs are integral to increasing organ donation’. In partnership with the Australian Organ and Tissue Authority, we're hosting this critical discussion on how general practitioners are key to increasing organ donation rates in Australia. This webinar is accredited for 1 The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) CPD Educational Activity Hour - with thanks to Meducate. Joining us as expert speakers are: 📌 Dr Helen Opdam, Associate Professor Helen Opdam MBBS FRACP FCICM, the OTA National Medical Director since 2014. A Senior Intensive Care Specialist at the Austin Hospital in Melbourne and Director of Warringal Private Hospital Intensive Care Unit, Dr Opdam brings invaluable frontline experience. 📌 Dr Greg Stewart, a GP with 40 years of experience working across the Northern Territory and Victoria. Dr Stewart also volunteered in East Timor and currently practices in rural towns of Western Victoria. 📌 Rusty and Helen Wilson, our special guests. These incredible donor parents will share their powerful story of consenting to their son Mathew's organ and tissue donation. Their experience highlights the life-saving impact of organ donation. 📅 Date: Monday 29 April 2024 🕒 Time: 6:30 - 7:30 PM AEST Register to join: https://loom.ly/g2Gs5Uc
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World Organ Donation Day is observed on 13 August to spread awareness about the importance of organ donation. #foodforheal #harmonalimbalance #CardiacNutrition #sleepnutrition #masalasalt #geriatricnutrition #healthyfood #dietitians #doctors #renalnutrition #kidsnutrition #dietplan #pregnancynutrition #WorldOrganDonationDay
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MP High Court permits minor daughter to donate Liver Tissue on exceptional medical grounds Reported by Ritu Singh Read More Here- https://lnkd.in/g9iXV749 #MadhyaPradeshHighCourt #JusticeVishalMishra #LiverTissuedonation #LiverTransplantation #TransplantationofHumanOrgansandTissuesRules #scconline #SCC #legalnews #legalknowledge #scctimes #legalblog #legalupdates #lawstudent #legalresearch #legalstudies #surestwaytolegalresearch #bringingyouthebestlegalnews
MP High Court permits minor daughter to donate Liver Tissue on exceptional medical grounds
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Director of Epidemiology/Infection Prevention, Patient Safety, Population Health, and Clinical Acceleration
Hospital Acquired Infection and CIC Certification. Patients cared for in hospitals owned by investors, as opposed to public hospitals or those owned by universities or charitable organizations, are more likely to catch infections and suffer falls, a new study finds. Surgical site infections doubled, even though fewer surgeries were performed at 51 hospitals bought by private equity investment groups compared with 259 hospitals that were not. Bloodstream infections associated with central line catheters jumped by 38% in the same three years after a private equity purchase, despite a decline in the placement of these tubes. Falls rose by 27% in that period. Overall, patients receiving Medicare at private-equity-owned hospitals experienced 25% more dangerous events during their hospital stays the study found. The great majority of these organizations all push for APIC recommendations of having unqualified. Nurses, and MPHs with APIC Certification only.
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💜Congratulations Spartacus....ADOPTED💜 🚨 Meet Spartacus! 🚨Spartacus is on the euthanasia list for 7/13/24. Your support can make a difference in their life. Let's come together to find Spartacus a loving home, a rescue, or a foster to give them a chance at a new beginning. #SaveSpartacus #AdoptDontShop 🐾 Pledges are crucial to attracting a rescue. Without fosters, rescues cannot intake animals. Sharing a post only takes a second. Refresh the page, share again. By sharing, you give a voice to a dog or cat in need. 𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄 𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐃𝐆𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄: https://lnkd.in/guMeghJ7 ADOPT/RESCUE - PRE-LAB - SPACE Spartacus (A1220261) 8 years old Male 8.00 pounds Heartworm Negative Location Found: 2400 Block Fort Worth Ave, Dallas TX 75211 https://lnkd.in/gr6tbXkq... Medical: ANIMAL WAS FOUND WITH A CONE ON IT AND HAS MULTIPLE AREAS OF ABRASION ON BODY AND THE ONES ON ARM LOOK LIKE THERE IS PUSS. 07/04/24 15:03 P appears to have an ulcer on OD. Healing cut on side of chest and left hind leg. 7/5 Wound on left chest was clipped and cleaned; it is scabbed over. Mupirocin was applied over it. Attempted to clip hair around face but not very successful. 07/06/24 14:24 The wound on chest, left rear area healing well. Cleaned and dressed with mupirocin. Applied erythromycin on eyes. 7/7 EXAM: ATTITUDE: bright, interactive, sweet CARD: no murmurs auscultated RESP: bilaterally clear, nares clean EYES: Approx 4mm corneal ulcer noted (stain up take positive) on OD with 14mm STT. Enopthalmus OS with protruding granulating area in center of cornea, 7mm STT. EARS: clean, quiet ORAL: moderate tartar buildup LN: all peripheral LN are soft, small symmetrical INT: Wounds present in several places on body- on right front limb extending onto cranial right shoulder and on left thorax. Patient also has matted ocular discharge on left side of face- unable to remove without sedation. ABD: soft, non-reactive to palp, normal M/S: No pain to palpation of limbs BCS 4/9 NEURO: apparently normal URO/GEN: both testicles present PROBLEMS: Bilateral corneal ulcerations, OS worse. Chronic, severe matting resulting in skin trauma in several places. KCS. PLAN: Patient's face should be throughly cleaned at time of neuter. Recheck wounds in 2 days. Recheck eyes in 5 days Rx: amox/clav (62.5mg/ml)-0.9ml PO BID X10 days carprofen- 25mg PO SID X 5 days Neopolybac opthalmic ointment- pea sized amount OU BID x 14 days 07/09/24 11:21 - Cone is in place and clean. No effusion or discharge seen. Appears to be healing Dallas Animal Services (Texas) To adopt: email [email protected] and go to the shelter at 1818 N. Westmoreland To foster: [email protected] (**must be local to the DFW area**) Rescue tag: [email protected]
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Red Cross announces emergency blood shortage, calls on Americans to donate
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Director of Business Development - Tips for work and life: Show up early. Work hard. Stay humble. Be positive. Be a team player. Never let a task be too little, but have faith, knowing no task is ever too big either.
I am proud, humbled, excited, and maybe even a bit nervous that my abstract on standardizing criteria for donors at risk for gift loss and allocation of marginal kidneys to improve the national utilization rate has been accepted by #AOPO! Having allocated precious #donor #organs as an #organ #allocation #coordinator, optimized organ function as a #clinical coordinator, helped recover and preserve organs through #perfusion (intraoperatively and on #preservation devices) while working at #WRTC and then having received thousands and accepted hundreds of them with tens of #transplant centers, helped craft transplant center and Buckeye internal processes aimed at optimizing and making more efficient the offer review and acceptance process, and after managing coordinator teams do the same and serving as an #administrator on call over the past eleven or so years I feel qualified to be able to comment on the subject matter. I am passionate about organ placement. Organ utilization, as it is referred to, is many things. It is life saving for the #recipient and their family, it is #legacy and honor for the donor and their family, it is accomplishment of #mission for both the organ procurement organization and transplant center. As a family member of an “unproductive donor” or “donor in spirit,” whose #kidneys could/should have gone to someone had they been offered in a more optimized and efficient manner, as well as a professional in the field, I feel duty bound to provide my insight and experience to help better the organ procurement and #transplantation system. In my oral presentation I hope to present real strategies for standardizing donor’s at risk for being “unproductive “ or in a better term, at risk for gift loss, across the country. Regional differences create many different challenges in many different ways, but the identification of donors from whom organs might be recovered and not utilized is not one of them. Likewise, an #efficient and simultaneously #equitable allocation system is not an impossibility. We cannot be paralyzed by the fact we have to actually place organs on a daily basis while trying to solve the problem of placing them. I hope to also propose an efficient and #effective way to do so while keeping away from phone-a-friend wild west ways of placing organs. Our recipients, recipient families, donors, donor families, and donation & transplant #professionals deserve better. I hope tonight provide at least a great starting point from which meaningful change to allocation can come and look forward to the constructive criticism that will come from it. I also look forward to representing Buckeye Transplant Services well, as there are far more bright individuals in the Buckeye family than me. Looking forward to #AOPO2024 in #SanAntonio #Texas #OPO #OrganTransplant #OrganProcurement #OrganDonation #DonateLife #SavingLives #SaveLives #BuckeyeTransplantServices #BuckeyeTransplant #Buckeye #BTS #WeCanDoThis #Together
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Director of Nursing Research, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
1moAll Comprehensive Cancer Centers needs to be involved in global work to reduce the burden of cancer around the world.