The MADRE Medical Project

"When your shipment of anti-parasite medicine arrived, we immediately called the hospital. We have many young patients who die without treatment. There has been little anti-parasite medicine in the country, and your shipment arrived just in time!"

—Dr. Luis Foyo, Director of the Red Cross in Cuba

The MADRE Medical Project delivers urgently needed medicines and medical supplies to combat AIDS, breast cancer, pediatric diseases and other threats to people's health in Latin America and the Caribbean. We send medicines and medical supplies to our sister organizations, who distribute them to local hospitals and clinics that serve women and children. Understanding that women's health is inextricably linked to women's human rights, the MADRE Medical Project enables women and their families to address immediate health concerns and strengthen their capacity to develop long-term solutions to the crises their communities face.

MADRE's Committment to Women's Health

MADRE's programs provide women and families with resources they need to meet their immediate health care needs and to change the conditions that give rise to poor health:

In addition to delivering urgently needed medicines and medical supplies, MADRE works to promote the long-term health of women and children through support for community-based health care programs, health education and training in human rights advocacy.
MADRE's sister organizations conduct educational workshops on nutrition, HIV/AIDS and domestic violence, while human rights trainings empower women to challenge policies that undermine women's and children's health and access to services.
Through our volunteer program, Sisters Without Borders, MADRE members help build partnerships with women's community-based groups to meet urgent needs in their communities for medical care, food, potable water, trauma counseling and other critical health services.
And MADRE's Helping Hands campaign collects eyeglasses, health and hygiene supplies, and Spanish- and English-language children's books for women and families in Latin America, the Caribbean, and Africa.

Health Care Realities

Throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, as in much of the world, women and children's access to medical care is severely limited as a result of gender inequality, political violence, racism and economic injustice.

In Guatemala, Indigenous women and girls are among those most seriously affected by the poverty, illiteracy and lack of health care that are the legacy of Guatemala's 35-year-old civil war. Maternal mortality among Indigenous women is 83 percent higher than among non-Indigenous women and, with only one doctor for every 10,000 rural Guatemalans, most women and girls lack even an annual medical check-up.

In Mexico, Indigenous women and their families have been displaced from their lands by the army, paramilitary groups and multinational corporations and forced to live far from their homes in make-shift villages surrounded by armed troops. In these communities, there is one doctor per 25,000 people and one-third of all adult deaths are caused by curable infectious diseases.

On the North Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua, home to most of Nicaragua's Indigenous and African-descent communities, almost three-quarters of the population suffers from malnutrition and the maternal mortality rate (124 deaths per 100,000 live births) is double the national average.

In Peru, Indigenous Peoples suffer from severe economic, social and cultural marginalization that pose serious threats to women's health. In the mainly rural Ayacucho Province, basic health services are astonishingly scarce: For every 100,000 people, there exist two nurses, one doctor, and eight hospital beds. Maternal mortality looms at 185 deaths per 100,000 live births and five women a day die due to pregnancy-related complications.

In Colombia, Afro-Colombian and Indigenous women and girls are disproportionately affected by the ongoing war and have little or no access to health care; where services do exist, medical supplies are inadequate and staff are severely overworked.

And in Cuba, where an excellent public health system serves as a model for most of the world, the US embargo prevents critical medications and technologies from entering the country and denies patients access to 80 percent of the world's pharmaceutical drugs.

Partnerships for Change: Delivering Aid Through MADRE's Sister Organizations

MADRE works closely with our sister organizations to ensure that medicines and medical supplies reach women and families who need them most. Because MADRE's sister organizations have a first-hand understanding of local health conditions as well as long-term relationships with the women who utilize their services, they are best situated to address the specific health concerns of women and families in their communities and facilitate the distribution of donations. For example:

In Nicaragua, MADRE has delivered medicine, medical supplies and equipment to CADAMUC, the first women's health clinic on the North Atlantic Coast. CADAMUC, co-founded by MADRE, combines traditional and Western medicine to bring health care to community women, many of whom previously had no access to health services.
For over a decade, MADRE has partnered with the Cuban Red Cross to deliver medicines and medical supplies to hospitals and clinics throughout Cuba. In 2000, MADRE launched Share Hope, a two-year campaign to combat breast cancer in Cuba that delivered over $700,000 worth of medicines.

How to Donate Medicine and Medical Supplies

MADRE relies on generous donations from clinics, hospitals, and individuals to deliver medicines and medical supplies to our partners in Latin America and the Caribbean. There are several ways you can contribute to the MADRE Medical Project:

Donate medicines and medical supplies to the Medical Project: In the US, patients' treatment regimens are frequently altered, causing medications to go unused. MADRE accepts donations of sealed medications that will not reach their expiration date for at least six months after they are delivered, and would be happy to arrange for you to send them to us. Individuals can also gather medicine samples from their doctors.
MADRE also accepts donations of alternative medicines such as herbal supplements (i.e. echinacea) and homeopathic remedies.
Donate $ to the Medical Project: Financial contributions to the MADRE Medical Project enable us to leverage every dollar that we spend by purchasing large quantities of medicines at low cost from medical assistance organizations, who sell medicines and medical supplies to non-profit organizations at a discounted price. Often, we can purchase $100 worth of medicines for just $1.
Join a MADRE Voyages with a Vision delegation: In addition to sending regular shipments to our partners in Latin America and the Caribbean, we deliver medicines and supplies to communities that we visit on our delegations.

If you would like to make a donation to the MADRE Medical Project, or would like more information about MADRE's Medical Project, please contact us at meds@madre.org or 212.627.0444.

Get Involved

Articles

Women's Health in a Sick World
MADRE's Sisters Without Borders: Women's Partnerships for Health and Human Rights
Check out MADRE's Programs in Peru, Colombia, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Cuba and Mexico