October 4, 2007

The United States Donates 26 Vehicles for Rural Community Healthcare in 40 Bolivian Municipalities

In support of the National Development Plan of the Bolivian Government, U.S. Ambassador to Bolivia Philip S. Goldberg delivered on Wednesday, October 3, 2007, seven vans and pick-up trucks, as well as 19 motorcycles, to the healthcare NGO network PROCOSI and to its Community Healthcare Project. The vehicles, estimated at $230,000, will improve rural communities’ ability to access healthcare services.

These vehicles will provide transportation for medical staff in charge of providing healthcare services to rural communities in 40 municipalities in the departments of Beni, Chuquisaca, Santa Cruz, and Tarija.

This initiative is part of a program coordinated with the Ministry of Health and Sports and works to improve the health and living standards of people in rural communities. These low-income Bolivians will benefit from an integrated package of rural community services that includes mother-child health care; infectious diseases control; activities related to sexual and reproductive health; sex education; control of chagas disease; and improvement of rural housing. This new cooperation effort, which started last year, has a budget of $18,000,000 and is provided by the people and government of the United States of America.

As one component of a comprehensive U.S. cooperation program for the development of Bolivia, this project aims to support Bolivians to create better living conditions, better economic opportunities to generate higher incomes, and support social inclusion and citizen participation.

The ceremony celebrating the delivery of the vehicles took place on Wednesday, October 03, 2007 at 11:45 at the USAID building.