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The Promise of Medical Care

Everyone deserves medical care.

Healthcare should not be a luxury, but it is for many in developing countries. Half the world’s population does not have access to affordable healthcare. If a person doesn’t receive necessary healthcare or when they need it, their health will worsen. This potentially leads to a loss of income and increased healthcare costs in the future. When appropriate medical care is not available, poor quality care, misdiagnosis, and simplistic facilities are prevalent and lead to poor health outcomes.

For these reasons, Medical Care is one of the Outreach Program’s Four Promises. The health of an individual affects all areas of their life, their family’s lives, and their community. Rural communities in Tanzania struggle to access many types of medical care including preventative care, prenatal care, and emergency care.

People in remote villages of Tanzania require medical attention. Walking 20 miles to the nearest medical facility is not uncommon for needed services. The Outreach Program recognized the need for rural medical care and developed a mobile medical vehicle called a Porta-Doc, which provides services to villages in remote areas that have limited or no access to medical care.

The Porta-Doc Medical Officer provides in-the-field service to 800 to 950 patients each month.

Medical missions are important, but the Porta-Doc provides a present, portable solution. Designed to serve rural populations, the Porta-Doc is a specially constructed Toyota Land Cruiser with modular medical inserts. These inserts contain potable water, refrigeration, medical supplies, and necessities for vital treatments, prenatal care, immunizations, and minor surgeries.

The Outreach Program addresses this need in two ways: medical missions trips and the Porta-Doc. Since 2005 the Outreach Program has supported 23 medical missions with more than 1,200 volunteers. 

Sixty major surgeries are usually performed over the course of the mission.

The Outreach Program helped to design and develop the new Singida Referral Hospital and shipped ten 40’ ocean containers of equipment to the District’s new Singida Referral Hospital.  National physicians are trained to use the equipment which was donated to the hospital in Singida.