We are excited to announce our new partnership with Project C.U.R.E., the largest provider of donated medical supplies and equipment to developing countries around the world. We recently donated two ultrasound systems through Project C.U.R.E. In our donations process, we take systems and probes from our inventory and refurbish them to industry standards before sending them to parts of the world in desperate need of modern medical equipment.
We sent one system to a cardiovascular clinic in Ghana that serves a community of approximately 3.3 million people. The clinic was started by Dr. Akamah, a native Ghanaian who received his initial medical training in Ghana before moving to the United Kingdom then the United States, where he became an invasive cardiologist. He practiced cardiology in the US and was a faculty member at Vanderbilt Medical School and Meherry Medical School, both located in Nashville, Tennessee.
Hospital de General de Kadutu in eastern Dominican Republic of the Congo in the Kivu Province received the other system. This area was the site of some of the most atrocious war crimes during the genocide in Rwanda (1994) and the two wars in DRC (1996-97 and 1998-2003). The majority of the 4.5 million inhabitants are impoverished and live in rural forests within the mountains. The capital of Bukavu has almost 900,000 people and is more urban, with many people living in slums. Electricity is not widespread and what little infrastructure exists is so undependable that it is largely considered nonexistent. In this region of the country, basic healthcare needs are a struggle to meet and many people do not go to a health center unless they absolutely must. Malaria and other diseases of poverty are quite common.
Probo is thrilled to begin our partnership with Project C.U.R.E. and do whatever we can to help people who live without access to medical equipment imaging. Project C.U.R.E. sends more than 100 containers of medical equipment overseas per year, and we hope to have ultrasound systems on as many as we possibly can. Stay tuned to find out where our donations end up in the coming months!
About the Author
Brian Gill is Probo Medical’s Vice President of Marketing. He has been in the ultrasound industry since 1999. From sales to service to customer support, he has done everything from circuit board repair and on-site service to networking and PACS, to training clinicians on ultrasound equipment. Through the years, Brian has trained more than 500 clinicians on over 100 different ultrasound machines. Currently, Brian is known as the industry expert in evaluating ultrasounds and training users on all makes and models of ultrasound equipment, this includes consulting with manufacturers with equipment evaluations during all stages of product development.
