[iconbox title=”Contact Name: Lauren Ditzian/Dr. Miriam Cremer” icon=”adress_book.png”]
Website: www.basichealth.org
Location: Latin America, Caribbean
Email Address: lditzian@basichealth.org
Phone Number: 212-241-0733[/iconbox]

Project Description

Imagine painting a 5-story building without a ladder, or harvesting coffee without a container to store the beans? This is the situation that many health care providers find themselves in when administering cervical cancer screening in remote and rural areas. Health care providers often travel long distances to provide life-saving cervical cancer screening and treatment to rural areas that do not have health clinics or gynecologic examination tables. Women have to be examined on desks, tables, hard floors or low mattresses in community rooms or private homes. These non-traditional facilities are often poorly lit and uncomfortable for women. In addition, to treat pre-cancerous cervical lesions, cryotherapy (freezing) of the cervix is employed. This requires providers to lug the gas tanks that weigh approximately 25 lbs each. These tanks are awkward and difficult to grasp because of their cylindrical shape and lack of a handle. As a result, providers either roll the gear on a dolly-like structure, or bear the weight on their own heads–all of which prove unfeasible in remote, mountainous areas.
Basic Health International (BHI) is a non-profit organization with a mission to eradicate cervical cancer in Latin America and the Caribbean. BHI has partnered with students at Hampshire College in Massachusetts to solve these problems. Hampshire students developed a transportable, light-weight gynecological exam table made from inexpensive materials. The design offers a washable surface and frame which can be worn as a backpack. The table is outfitted with several carrying pouches for supplies including the heavy gas tank necessary for treatment. It also has adjustable stirrups to account for the variability in women’s height. In March of 2012, the exam table was tested in multiple Salvadoran communities and was found to be highly acceptable to health providers. Its portability and ease of use made it possible to perform effective cervical cancer screenings in non-traditional settings. To date, the table has been tested with more than 80 women, all of whom indicated that it was comfortable. Our goal is to manufacture this product so that it is affordable and able to be widely distributed to communities with the greatest need. Please help us equip healthcare providers with the tools they need by supporting this project.
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Who Benefits From This Project?

Many women in El Salvador are screened for cervical cancer in darkly lit bedrooms of their neighbor’s hut, sometimes on bloody sheets, beds too-low to the ground, or on top of two school desks pushed together in a classroom lacking electricity. With the portable gynecological bed, the problems associated with a lack of an appropriate exam bed are alleviated. The portable beds will provide a comfortable, safe and sanitary examination bed for women who undergo a gynecological examination in rural locations, and increase the portability of bed and treatment. By better integrating these two components we address overarching issues such as resource scarcity and lack of medical infrastructure in rural communities not only in our organization but countries all over the developing world.

How Can I Help?

To make a donation online, please visit the link below. You can also set up a monthly recurring donation, which can be cancelled at any time. https://www.justgive.org/nonprofits/donate.jsp?ein=20-3408717
Donations can also be mailed to:
Basic Health International
Mount Sinai Medical Center
One Gustave, L. Levy Place, Box 1170
New York, NY 10029-6574
You can also make donations in honor of a friend or loved one.
Basic Health is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. All Donations are Tax Deductible. Basic Health tax ID: 20-3408717
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call 212-241-0733 or email us at info@basichealth.org.
We thank you for your generosity in supporting our challenge for saving the lives of cancer patients today