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U.S. Doctors for Africa Launches Ghana Mobile Clinic Project As First Step in Proposed $70 Million Mobile Clinic Initiative

Posted on: Tuesday, 16 October 2007, 09:01 CDT

U.S. Doctors for Africa (USDFA) (www.usdfa.org) announces the Ghana Mobile Clinic Project--the deployment of its first mobile clinic to Africa. This is the first clinic of an anticipated 200 mobile clinics USDFA has committed to deploy by 2015 as part of its Mobile Clinic Initiative, a commitment made by USDFA at the 2006 Clinton Global Initiative. USDFA aims to save millions of lives by providing basic health care and education that is currently unavailable in rural Africa.

The Vice President of the Republic of Ghana H.E. Alhaji Aliu Mahama has joined forces with USDFA to arrange governmental partnerships. The mobile clinic being deployed to Ghana by the end of 2007 is visible in front of 55 Wall Street (Manhattan) during USDFA's October 17, 2007, Fundraising Gala at Cipriani's, which honors philanthropist and Hip Hop mogul Russell Simmons.

USDFA founder Ted Alemayhu says, "Seven million children under the age of five die annually in Africa from preventable illnesses, such as acute respiratory infections, diarrhea, malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS. Our mobile clinic will deliver low cost interventions, including immunization and antibiotics to help battle these diseases."

USDFA only places clinics and medical volunteers into stable and safe environments. Despite its stable government, the health crisis in Ghana is as severe as other African countries, where regions of more than 100,000 people often only have one medically trained person.

The pilot clinic will gather data for approximately one year, and subsequently, USDFA will expand its efforts into other African countries, such as Tanzania, Ethiopia and South Africa. Each mobile clinic ranges in value from $200,000.00 -- 300,000.00.

About U.S. Doctors for Africa (USDFA)

U.S. Doctors for Africa (USDFA) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization providing volunteer medical professionals from the United States and Africa to the most rural areas of Sub-Saharan Africa. USDFA provides basic health care, such as vaccinations and health education, in an effort to combat AIDS/HIV, Malaria and other preventable communicable diseases. Supporters of USDFA include Kofi Annan, Bill Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, Quincy Jones, Chris Tucker, Dikembe Mutombo, Baron Davis and Russell Simmons. Partners include the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Clinton Foundation and the World Health Organization. (www.usdfa.org)

Source: Business Wire

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