Carelift International aid shipment aims to improve healthcare for miners (09/09/01)

Carelift International aid shipment aims to improve healthcare for miners

PHILADELPHIA - Carelift International, a non-profit humanitarian aid organization based in Philadelphia, announced that it sent a shipment of medical equipment and supplies to Ukraine on August 9 to help improve healthcare for coal miners and their families in Ukraine's coal capital of Donetsk.

Ukrainian coal miners, like their U.S. counterparts, work in one of the world's most dangerous occupations, facing hazards that frequently lead to long-term debilitating health conditions such as chronic lung disease, hearing loss and nervous system disorders. Many residents of mining communities also suffer from cardiovascular and cancer-related diseases, acute and chronic respiratory illnesses related to poor air quality, and gastrointestinal diseases from drinking water contaminated by industrial waste.

In addition, fatalities resulting from mining accidents in Ukraine are more than seven times that of U.S. miners. In the past three years 113 mine workers in Donetsk and 700 workers throughout Ukraine were killed in mining accidents. In comparison, the U.S. saw a total of 95 coal mining fatalities nationwide during the same time period, according to the U.S Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration.

Carelift's shipment of the Donetsk Miner's Health Center - located at Donetsk City Hospital No. 25 - will supply furniture, equipment and a diagnostic ultrasound unit to help improve the healthcare services delivered to approximately 19,500 people living in three mining communities in the region.

The Miner's Health Center, which formally opened on February 27, was established through an American International Health Alliance (AIHA) partnership between Magee Womancare International (MWI), the Donetsk Oblast Health Administration, the Kramatorsk Central City Hospital and the clinic at Donetsk City Hospital No. 25.

The center provides a wide range of affordable, accessible and comprehensive primary healthcare services to mining families in Donetsk - including early detection and treatment of occupational diseases, health education and laboratory screening to promote disease prevention.

Donetsk, located in southeastern Ukraine, is highly dependent upon the coal industry. One of every 10 residents is employed by the more than 200 coal miners in the region. Of the 86,000 coal miners living in communities near Donetsk, 78,000 are men who work underground, while 8,000 are women working in support jobs in the industry.

AIHA partners consulted with representatives and management of local mines and labor as well as hospital officials. They determined that the region would especially benefit from modern medical equipment and the services of trained occupational disease professionals. Carelift is using its expertise in arranging donations of equipment, transferring and installing medical technology and implementing training programs to benefit the program. To date, Carelift has provided more than $100,000 worth of medical equipment and supplies to the center.

Carelift International, founded in 1992 and headquartered in Philadelphia, is a non-profit organization dedicated to building permanent healthcare infrastructures in developing countries, while providing immediate humanitarian aid. Carelift collects donated medical equipment, supplies and pharmaceuticals from U.S. hospitals and healthcare institutions and corporations, and distributes them overseas.

Each project is designed to enable Carelift's partners to implement improvements in the healthcare services in their communities beyond Carelift international's direct support. Since 1992 Carelift has shipped over $42 million in medical equipment, supplies and educational services to doctors and patients in 32 countries around the world.

Carelift International is currently supporting six AIHA partnerships in Ukraine and 20 partnerships through the new independent states and Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) under a cooperative agreement with the United States Agency for International Development (USAlD).

To optimize the impact of USAID-funded projects, Carelift collaborates with major U.S. medical centers and academic institutions through the American International Health Alliance (AIHA) Inc., a not-for-profit organization that works to advance global health through volunteer-driven partnerships between U.S. healthcare providers, academic institutions and other governmental and non-governmental health-related institutions and their communities. Since 1999 Carelift has provided more than $5.8 million of equipment and supplies to support AIHA partnership projects.

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