September 6, 2007

The United States donates $900,000 for rural community health program

U.S. Ambassador to Bolivia Philip S. Goldberg signed a donation agreement worth approximately $900,000, for programs supporting rural community health together with Prosalud

On September 4, U.S. Ambassador to Bolivia Philip S. Goldberg signed a donation agreement worth approximately $900,000, for programs supporting rural community health together with Prosalud. Prosalud, through its Partners for Development program, will channel these resources to rural local organizations such as Base Territorial Organizations, indigenous communities, and NGOs.

PROSALUD is a Bolivian non-governmental healthcare organization created with the support from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in 1985 with the objective of becoming self-sustainable by 2009, when USAID’s cooperation is scheduled to end. The financial support given by the United States government to Prosalud since its creation is estimated at $24 million.

The Partners for Development program was designed by USAID and is administered by PROSALUD with the purpose of strengthening local capability to improve healthcare services, especially for women and children.  The project provides financial support, technical assistance, and training to strengthen grassroots community organizations, NGOs, and municipalities.

We know that in the past five years this project has implemented 117 rural community health projects ...

In his speech, Ambassador Goldberg said that the Partners for Development program is an example of how it is possible to extend the benefits of healthcare attention to poor rural communities. He also said that U.S. cooperation to Bolivia not only offers technical and financial support, but also provides an active effort: “We know that in the past five years this project has implemented 117 rural community health projects by working with Bolivian Base Territorial Organizations and NGOs in eight departments. These are diverse initiatives that encompass a wide variety of healthcare projects such as the improvement of houses against the Chagas disease in the municipality of Icla, Chuquisaca, and the construction of a healthcare center to assist patients diagnosed with HIV-AIDS in El Alto,” said the Ambassador.