Mission Statement

The right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health...
The right to equality before the law...
The right to be free from torture...

Doctors of the World - USA mobilizes the health sector to promote and protect these and other basic human rights and civil liberties for all people, in the United States and abroad. In collaboration with a network of affiliates around the world and in partnership with local communities, we work where health is diminished or endangered by violations of human rights and civil liberties.

We provide essential care and services while training community residents to carry on the mission of health at the conclusion of our efforts.

We combine these services with appropriate advocacy to ensure maximum impact.

To achieve our goals, we mobilize American health care professionals as volunteers, bringing their expertise and idealism to those who need it most.

Background

Doctors of the World - USA (DOW) is an international health and human rights organization founded in 1990 by a group of volunteer physicians, including the late Dr. Jonathan Mann. DOW works to increase access to health care for marginalized populations through initiatives that develop the capacity of local communities to provide health services that will be sustainable and long-lasting. Addressing health crises including HIV/AIDS and TB, women's health, orphans and vulnerable children, human trafficking, and torture, DOW projects combat the stigma, violence, discrimination, and deprivation of liberties suffered by the world's most excluded and vulnerable. Establishing local partnerships and working closely with communities, DOW projects combine direct service, system development, and advocacy to ensure the broadest possible impact. DOW is a part of the Doctors of the World/Médecins du Monde International Network, comprised of ten independent delegations around the globe.

DOW is currently active in Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, and the Americas, including a major human rights program in the United States. DOW has worked in over 30 countries and communities where health is diminished or endangered by violations of human rights and civil liberties, and has mobilized the health sector - in the United States and internationally - to promote and protect these rights.

Current Projects

USA: Human Rights Clinic
DOW trains and mobilizes volunteer physicians and mental health professionals in ten states to provide clinical assessment and documentation for survivors of torture and persecution seeking asylum in the United States.

Chiapas, Mexico: Community Health Project
DOW deploys physician volunteers to provide direct care and mentor local providers at the Hospital San Carlos in Altamirano, which serves the indigenous populations living in the surrounding communities.

Chiapas, Mexico: Communication, Social Mobilization, and Advocacy of TB Control in High-Burden Communities
DOW is implementing a community-based TB education and social mobilization program to reduce the high morbidity and mortality from TB among indigenous communities in Chiapas. To do so, DOW is training community health promoters and mobilizing promoter-led TB education campaigns and improving coordination between communities, community-based organizations, and the regional health system.

Dharamsala, India: Strengthening Health Services through Volunteers
DOW supports volunteer physicians to provide health care and improve systems at the Delek Hospital, which serves the Tibetan exile community.

West Pokot, Kenya: HIV/AIDS Care
DOW is working with the local health system and community health workers to provide urgently needed HIV treatment, support, and prevention services, including through semi-mobile outreach clinics. DOW has constructed an HIV clinic at the Kapenguria District Hospital, and has enrolled over 1,000 patients and their families in comprehensive HIV services based on the AMPATH model developed by Indiana University.

West Pokot, Kenya: TB Control
In collaboration with Moi and Brown Universities, DOW is strengthening TB case control in the West Pokot and Trans Nzoia Districts in Kenya, by training and supporting community-based cough monitors and traditional birth attendants in TB case detection and monitoring.

West Pokot, Kenya: Maternal and Neonatal Health
DOW is working with the local health system and community health providers in West Pokot to strengthen capacity to provide antenatal care, safe delivery and newborn care, and emergency obstetric services, while increasing the interaction between communities and local health services through community health educators and outreach services.

Kathmandu, Biratnagar, and Nepalganj, Nepal: Care and Support for Survivors of Trafficking and Abuse and Those At-Risk
DOW is improving access to health and psychosocial services and vocational training for survivors of human trafficking, abuse, and gender-based violence, including those living in local NGO-run shelters and in communities. DOW is also implementing trainings to expand local health sector capacity to respond to the physical and sexual abuse of children.

Bucharest, Romania; Sofia, Bulgaria: Roma Health Advocacy
DOW is working to build Roma health advocacy capacity in both Romania and Bulgaria by strengthening the capacity of Roma and non-Roma NGOs to advocate at the local and national levels for improved Roma access to health education and services.

Kyiv, Donetsk, and Simferopol, Ukraine: Prevention of Abandonment of Children Born to HIV+ Mothers (MAMA+ Project):
DOW's MAMA+ project works with the All-Ukrainian Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS to provide comprehensive health and social services to HIV+ mothers at-risk of abandoning their children. The project aims to combat the deep-seated stigma and discrimination faced by HIV-positive mothers, and enables children to remain within the biological family environment. Trainings for service providers build local capacity to administer care, while partnerships at the local, regional and national levels ensure that the project is sustainable and integrated into the local health delivery system.

St. Petersburg, Russia: Prevention of Abandonment of Children Born to HIV+ Mothers (MAMA+ Project)
DOW's MAMA+ project works with a network of local service providers and organizations to deliver a comprehensive set of health and social services to HIV+ mothers at-risk of abandoning their children. The project aims to combat the deep-seated stigma and discrimination faced by HIV-positive mothers, and enables children to remain within the biological family environment. Trainings for service providers build local capacity to administer care, while local partnerships ensure that the project is sustainable and integrated into the health delivery system.

St. Petersburg, Russia: Project for At-Risk Children and Youth
DOW is developing community-based child welfare services providing a range of services to at-risk children, youth, and families in St. Petersburg, as an alternative to institutionalization and to combat the crisis of children and youth either orphaned or deprived of parental care. Through partnerships with local organizations such as the Russian NGO Doctors to Children, and local and regional governments, DOW has established Drop in Centers, foster family programs, a halfway house, and other services.

St. Petersburg, Russia: Access to HIV Testing, Prevention, and Care Services for Street Youth
DOW is mobilizing outreach and social workers to engage HIV-positive street- and at-risk children and youth in St. Petersburg, and has established a mobile unit to provide outreach, counseling, testing, and prevention services. Working with local partners, DOW is enabling Drop-In Centers to provide HIV testing, counseling and prevention education services, and and ensuring access to follow-up care for those who are HIV-positive.

Chernihiv, Ukraine: Services for Street and At-Risk Youth
DOW is building the capacity of local social service agencies to provide psychosocial and medical services to street and at-risk children and youth at a Drop-In Center in Chernihiv, to combat the growing number of children and youth either orphaned or deprived of parental care. Through its partnerships with local organizations and regional and national governments, DOW disseminates its best practices to build capacity within the Ukrainian national health system.