Catholic Medical Mission Board
AbbreviationCMMB
Formation1912–1928
FounderDr. Paluel Flagg
Type501(c)(3)
Legal statusActive
FocusWomen’s and children’s health
Headquarters1212 Avenue of the Americas, 11th Floor
New York, NY 10036
Region served
Worldwide
Key people
Mary Beth Powers (CEO)
Stephen Sichak (Board Chair)
Employees
553 (2018)
Volunteers
661 (2018)
Websitewww.cmmb.org

The Catholic Medical Mission Board (CMMB) is an international, faith-based NGO, providing long-term, co-operative medical and development aid to communities affected by poverty and healthcare issues.[1] It was established in 1912 and officially registered in 1928. CMMB is headquartered in New York City, USA, and currently has country offices in Haiti, Kenya, Peru, South Sudan, and Zambia.[2]

CMMB's health programs include Children and Mothers Partnerships (CHAMPS), shipping of medical supplies, placement of international medical and non-medical volunteers,[3] HIV/AIDS,[4][5] prevention and treatment of neglected tropical diseases,[6] and disaster relief to areas that experienced natural or political catastrophes.[7] CMMB actively works with the U.S. government on programming, such as the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and[8][9] USAID.[10] CDC[11] multilateral donors include UNICEF,[12] UNHCR,[13] and PAHO,[4] and public-private partnerships, including the Survive and Thrive Global Development Alliance.[14]

Programs

CHAMPS

Children and Mothers Partnerships (CHAMPS) is CMMB's long-term initiative to address the leading causes of maternal and child death, disability, and illness, including diarrhea, pneumonia, malaria and HIV. The program works both at community and clinical levels throughout Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.[15] It addresses common causes of poor health, including access to clean water, healthcare facilities and medicine supply, sanitation, agriculture/nutrition, and socio-economic development.[16]

Medical Donations and Volunteer Programs

Sending volunteers and medical supplies to resource-poor areas are two of the original and continuing programs of CMMB.[17] The pharmaceutical program distributes donated medicines and medical supplies. In 2018, this program shipped $703,729,464 worth of products and medications worldwide to 114 consignees in 35 countries.[18] Over ten years, CMMB has provided over US$2 billion worth of donated medicines to local healthcare partners in 120 countries.[18] CMMB's volunteer program provides medical and business expertise for community development at faith-based facilities in Haiti, Kenya, Peru, South Sudan, Zambia, and elsewhere.[3][17]

HIV/AIDS

CMMB provides HIV/AIDS care, treatment, and support across all age groups and genders. Between 2003 and 2013 CMMB has participated in the U.S. government-funded AIDS Relief care and treatment program (PEPFAR)[19] which has helped more than 700,000 HIV-infected people worldwide.[8] It also partnered with the Choose To Care program of the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference, which was funded by the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation and others, lending assistance to more than 140 community-based initiatives in South Africa, Namibia, Swaziland, Lesotho, and Botswana.[20]

DREAMS

Since 2015, CMMB has been part of the DREAMS project, a USAID funded project working in 10 countries of sub-Saharan Africa to reduce the number of new HIV infections in adolescent girls and young women.[21] DREAMS is an acronym signifying what partners hope for all girls worldwide to be: determined, resilient empowered, AIDS-free, mentored, and safe.[22] CMMB has been working on this project in Kenya[23] and Zambia, mentoring adolescent girls and young women to overcome the challenges of adolescence and stay in school.[24][25]

Program Areas

CMMB has 10 key program areas its projects seek to address.[26] They are:

  • Maternal Health
  • Nutrition
  • Women's Health
  • HIV Treatment & Prevention
  • Children's Health Care
  • Economic Empowerment
  • Advocacy
  • Water and Sanitation
  • Emergency Response
  • Health Systems Strengthening

History

The history of CMMB (known as a committee of the Catholic Hospital Association until 1927) dates back to 1912, when a personal tragedy inspired CMMB's founder Dr. Paluel J. Flagg to commit to medical missionary work, beginning with leprosy patients in Haiti.[2]

For many decades, CMMB prioritized the shipping of medical supplies and equipment to missionaries and health partners around the world.[27] In 1949, Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, television personality and national director of the Society of the Propagation of the Faith, joined CMMB's board and served for 26 years.[2] Another stalwart supporter of CMMB has been the surgeon Tom Catena.[28][29]

In 2002, CMMB introduced Born To Live,[30] a program designed for the prevention of mother-to-child (PMTCT) transmission of HIV which affected nearly 60,000 women in Haiti, Kenya and South Sudan.

In 2003, CMMB launched Action for Family Health to help reduce the mortality and morbidity rates of children in five Central American and Caribbean countries, through a partnership with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Catholic healthcare networks, and the respective Ministries of Health in each country,[6] providing deworming medicines to children.[31]

In 2004, CMMB supported international and local partners in response to the tsunami disaster, committing US$3.1 million in health aid to survivors in India, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka.[32]

CMMB became a member of the AIDS Relief consortium in response to President Bush's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.[8]

In 2010, CMMB provided over US$49 million and over 500 tons of pharmaceutical and medical supplies worth US$46.7 million to Haiti for earthquake relief through its local partners,[33] and co-founded the Haiti Amputee Coalition to provide amputees with urgent medical care, basic needs, therapy and high-quality prostheses.[34]

In 2013, CMMB delivered medicine and medical supplies valued at more than US$10 million to survivors of typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) in the Philippines.

In 2018 CMMB responded to eight different emergencies. CMMB sent over $5 million worth of medicines and medical supplies to the 1.7 million people affected by the eruption of Volcán de Fuego in Guatemala.[35] CMMB's Port-de-Paix team were also among the first responders for victims of the magnitude 5.9 earthquake in Haiti. In Zambia, CMMB deployed 630,000 water purification tablets from Procter & Gamble in response to the deadly cholera outbreak.[36] The team there continues to work to improve water and sanitation. CMMB also sent over $88 million of medicines to Syria to help treat civilian injuries due to the ongoing civil war.[37][38][39] It also mobilized resources to provide medical care and shelter for people displaced by the severe flooding in India[40] and assistance to people in Indonesia affected by the earthquake and tsunami.[41] CMMB has also sent $14.5 million worth of medicine and medical supplies to partners in Yemen in response to the civil war.[38] In South Sudan, CMMB is delivering health services for internally displaced people and working with recently released child soldiers to provide reintegration services and community-based child protection programming.[42]

Country Offices

Haiti

CMMB's work in Haiti goes back to 1912,[43] and today the Haiti country office is CMMB's largest.[44] The health services programs and initiatives for women and children include: CHAMPS, disability rehabilitation, domestic and international volunteers, HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment (including prevention of mother-to-child transmission), maternal, neonatal, and child health, medical supply chain system strengthening, prevention and control of malaria, support for orphans and vulnerable children, and community health worker training.[45]

It also partnered with Mercy Health to build a hospital, the Bishop Joseph M. Sullivan Center for Health, which was completed in 2017 and provides quality healthcare for nearly 50,000 people in Côtes-de-Fer.[45] Joseph M. Sullivan had been Bishop of Brooklyn, New York, and on CMMB's Board of Directors.[46] This hospital will serve a population that previously had to travel for hours over rough terrain to reach the closest health center.[47]

CMMB is also a founding member of the Haitian Amputee Coalition, and continues to serve Haitian amputees by providing on-the-job training in this complex field to a talented group of young Haitian apprentices.[48][44]

Kenya

CMMB has run comprehensive HIV care programs in Kenya since 2003. In 2010, CMMB was providing life-saving antiretroviral treatment to nearly 47,000 Kenyans, and through its mentors helps more than 24,000 people living with HIV/AIDS,[33] including issues like social stigma, in Kenya, South Sudan and Haiti. CMMB's Women Fighting AIDS Kenya (WOFAK) is a community-based organization, providing prevention education, support groups, and clinical and nutritional care to 15,000 women and 5,000 children each year.[49] CMMB provides voluntary medical male circumcision services[50] as part of a comprehensive HIV-prevention package[51] in Nairobi and Kisumu County.

CMMB programs in Kenya have built the capacity of local healthcare organizations to tackle not only HIV/AIDS but also other national health challenges. It has helped build human resources for health and work to strengthen Kenyan health systems via direct assistance on health management information systems, finance, administration, and technical training for staff.

Peru

CMMB's First 1000 Days Project focuses on improving the health and nutrition of children under the age of five and pregnant women in under-served and marginalized areas of Peru.[52] It trains professional and community healthcare workers, advises parents on health and nutrition, provides nutritional supplementation to malnourished children, institutes community health-surveillance, and addresses issues of economic self-sufficiency through agricultural programs.[53] Rehabilitation Hope is a special community-based service program that assists children with physical and cognitive disabilities by providing quality therapy.[54] CHAMPS Peru complements existing community-based programs designed to improve maternal and child health.

In 2010–2013, CMMB, Bon Secours Health System, CHRISTUS Health, and Caritas del Peru partnered to implement the Unidos Contra la Mortalidad Infantil (United Against Infant Mortality) program,[53] which was designed to decrease morbidity and mortality in children under five years of age.

South Sudan

CMMB has been working in the Republic of South Sudan since 2009, and currently works in Mvolo, Ezo, Nzara, Yambio, and Ibba counties in the greater Western Equatoria region.[55] CMMB's work in South Sudan includes HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and treatment, refugee health services, gender-based violence prevention, child protection, and primary healthcare.

In 2009, CMMB established ANISA, healthcare initiatives to support local HIV/AIDS program. ANISA, meaning “together” in the Zande language, aims to reduce the incidences of new HIV infections through HIV testing and counseling, and to prevent PMTCT and sexual transmission of the disease.[56] CMMB partners with World Vision which provides community outreach in HIV prevention for a target audience of over 120,000 people annually.[57]

Since 2012, CMMB trains and provides support to birth attendants and nurses in safe delivery and infant health, along with ambulance services.[58]

CMMB is also working with former child soldiers in the reintegration process, which includes medical care and psycho-social support, such as counseling and play therapy.[42] This process includes the creation of Child Friendly Spaces to help support and protect children.[59] CMMB also help reunite these children with their families.[60]

In April 2018 CMMB also broke ground on the construction of an operating theater, maternity ward, and blood bank at the St. Theresa Hospital in Nzara, South Sudan.[61]

Zambia

CMMB has been working in Zambia since 1965, and today works in all 10 provinces.[62] CMMB focuses on maternal and child health including a four-year program for prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT),[63] increasing uptake of voluntary medical male circumcision, and HIV counseling and testing (HCT),[10] implementing community-based HIV prevention programs and preventing and treating malaria, TB, and leprosy. CMMB promotes male involvement[64] in antenatal clinics and responsibility for the health of the family under the Men Taking Action (MTA) model,[65] including PMTCT, HCT services, and antiretroviral (ARV) treatment at 31 participating Church Health Institutions.[66]

Between 2009–2012, CMMB managed the USAID-funded Malaria Communities Program under the President's Malaria Initiative (PMI) in the high transmission Luapula Province.[67]

CMMB also works to provide safe access to clean drinking water in rural areas of Zambia.[68][69] Collecting water is a task that primarily falls on women and girls, and waterborne diseases account for 80% of all illness in developing countries.[70] Increasing accessibility to safe, clean water improves health and helps women and girls especially.

Controversies

On September 20, 2019, the California Attorney General's office announced that it had secured a Cease and Desist Order and over $1 million in penalties against MAP International, Food for the Poor, and Catholic Medical Mission Board, for deceptive solicitation tactics.[71] In a two-part decision a California administrative law judge found in favor of CMMB in part one. CMMB has filed an appeal for the second of the two-part decision.[72]

While Charity Navigator has posted an advisory, CMMB recently received a four-star rating for the ninth consecutive year. [73]

Recognition

References

  1. ↑ m|Oppenheim TV, "INSIGHT: Bruce Wilkinson – Catholic Medical Mission Board", Interview. September 2, 2015
  2. 1 2 3 Tom Gallagher, "Catholic organization exports US health care to the poor around the world", National Catholic Reporter. January 31, 2013
  3. 1 2 WHO, Members, CMMB. Retrieved on 03/03/2016
  4. 1 2 Give.org, Catholic Medical Mission Board. Retrieved on 06/22/2016
  5. ↑ amFAR, Welcome. Retrieved on 07/05/2016
  6. 1 2 Georgetown University, Berkley Center, Catholic Medical Mission Board Archived 2015-10-20 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved on 03/03/2016
  7. ↑ Charity Navigator, Catholic Medical Mission Board. Retrieved on 03/15/2016
  8. 1 2 3 Relief Web, "CMMB Celebrates Saving More than 700,000 Lives Globally through the AIDSRelief Program", published 08/12/2013.
  9. ↑ Institute of Human Virology, AIDSRELIEF CONSORTIUM Archived 2016-06-28 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved on 07/06/2016
  10. 1 2 USAID, Community and Government Networks’ Partnerships Improves the Referral Systems and Coordination of PMTCT and HCT Services in Zambia. Retrieved on 06/22/2016
  11. ↑ CDC, Caotholic Medical Mission Board Health Programs. Retrieved on 07/06/2016
  12. ↑ UNICEF, "UNICEF and the Catholic Medical Mission Board join forces to fight AIDS" Archived 2016-08-20 at the Wayback Machine, updated 03/02/2006.
  13. ↑ ReliefWeb, South Sudan UNHCR Operational Update no. 26/2015, 2–7 July 2015. Published 07/07/2015
  14. ↑ The Survive and Thrive Global Development Alliance, Progress Reports. Retrieved on 07/06/2016
  15. ↑ Every Woman Every Child, Catholic Medical Mission Board (CMMB) Archived 2016-10-11 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved on 06/22/2016
  16. ↑ Valentina Ieri, "NGO Pledges $500 Million Towards Sustainable Development Goals", United Nations. Published on 03/25/2016
  17. 1 2 Catholic Volunteer Network, CMMB Volunteer Program. Retrieved on 06/22/2016
  18. 1 2 "Medical Donations". CMMB. Retrieved 2019-01-09.
  19. ↑ PEPFAR, New Partner Organizations: First Round Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine (Updated January 2009). Retrieved on 03/08/2016
  20. 1 2 UNAIDS Best Practices. A Faith-Based Response to HIV in Southern Africa: the Choose to Care Initiative. December, 2006.
  21. ↑ "UNAIDS IATT on Education Symposium Report 2015" (PDF). 2015-06-25. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  22. ↑ "Working Together for an AIDS-Free Future for Girls and Women". www.pepfar.gov. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  23. ↑ "Kenya: DREAMS Overview" (PDF). Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  24. ↑ "DREAMS-TUSAAIDIE WASICHANA WAELIMIKE ("Support Girls to Learn") Project – Children In Freedom". Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  25. ↑ "CATHOLIC MEDICAL MISSION BOARD (CMMB): Making DREAMS a Reality in Kenya". Global Impact | Helping People in Need. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  26. ↑ "Programs". CMMB. Retrieved 2019-01-10.
  27. ↑ Edward F. Garesche, The Catholic Medical Mission Board and its Work, The Linacre Quarterly, Volume 2, Number 4. September 1934
  28. ↑ Alex Perry, Alone and Forgotten, One American Doctor Saves Lives in Sudan’s Nuba Mountains, Time. April 25, 2012
  29. ↑ Gordon Morton, On A Mission, Brown Alumni Magazine. 2013, March/April Issue
  30. ↑ Georgetown University, Berkley Center, First Nationwide Faith-based Initiative to Fight Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV Launched in Kenya Archived 2015-10-19 at the Wayback Machine. October 14, 2002
  31. ↑ PAHO, "A Call to Action: Addressing Soil-transmitted Helminths in Latin America & the Caribbean". Retrieved on 06/22/2016
  32. ↑ Claudia McDonnel, "Tsunami Aid". Published on 02/03/2005
  33. 1 2 FADICA, Y and H Soda Foundation and Catholic Medical Mission Board Welcomed to FADICA Membership. Retrieved on 06/22/2016
  34. ↑ Scott Alessi, "Hope for Haiti" Archived 2016-08-15 at the Wayback Machine, OSV Newsweekly. Published on 12/30/2013
  35. ↑ "Emergency in Guatemala: Volcán de Fuego Aftermath - Guatemala". ReliefWeb. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  36. ↑ "CMMB Responds to the Cholera Outbreak in Lusaka, Zambia - Zambia". ReliefWeb. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  37. ↑ "Shipment #10: Four 40-foot containers". Save The Syrian Children. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  38. 1 2 "CMMB Quarterly Report Winter 2019" (PDF). Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  39. ↑ "CMMB". www.rahmarelief.org. Archived from the original on 2019-01-23. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  40. ↑ "India: Floods and Landslides - Jun 2018". ReliefWeb. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  41. ↑ "Indonesia: Tsunami/Earthquakes - Sep 2018". ReliefWeb. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  42. 1 2 "Releasing Child Soldiers in South Sudan - South Sudan". ReliefWeb. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  43. ↑ Colum Wood, Ferrari 458 Italia Fetches $530,000 at Auction for Haiti Relief. March 19, 2010
  44. 1 2 "Haiti". CMMB. Retrieved 2019-01-09.
  45. 1 2 "CMMB opens Haiti hospital that was funded in part by Mercy Health". www.chausa.org. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  46. ↑ Catholic Health Association of the United States, "CMMB to use challenge grant to build health center in Haiti". Published on 08/01/2013
  47. ↑ "CMMB Opens Hospital in Haiti". CMMB. 2017-03-16. Retrieved 2019-01-10.
  48. ↑ "Second Anniversary of Haiti Earthquake - Haiti". ReliefWeb. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  49. ↑ IAAT, Communities taking action for women, mothers and children. Retrieved on 03/03/2016
  50. ↑ CDC, Progress in Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision Service Provision — Kenya, 2008–2011. November 30, 2012
  51. ↑ Male Circumcision in a Comprehensive HIV Prevention Package, Nuanza Update, p.3. May 2010
  52. ↑ "PMNCH | Catholic Medical Mission Board (CMMB)". WHO. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  53. 1 2 Bon Secours Health System, Press Release, CMMB Partners with Leading Catholic Health Care Networks to Launch Major Child Survival Program in Peru. Retrieved on 03/03/2016
  54. ↑ "Peru". CMMB. Retrieved 2019-01-09.
  55. ↑ "South Sudan". CMMB. Retrieved 2019-01-09.
  56. ↑ amfAR, Detailed Mechanism Funding and Narrative. Retrieved on 06/22/2016
  57. ↑ PEPFAR, South Sudan. Operational Plan Report. FY 2011. Retrieved on 06/22/2016
  58. ↑ Theresa Consoli, Maternal Mortality in South Sudan:The Safe Motherhood Project. Retrieved on 06/22/2016
  59. ↑ "Playing for Peace: A Photo Essay of Child Friendly Spaces in South Sudan". CMMB. 2018-10-18. Retrieved 2019-01-10.
  60. ↑ "Stolen Childhoods: The Release of Child Soldiers in South Sudan - South Sudan". ReliefWeb. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  61. ↑ West, Perry. "In South Sudan, Catholic hospital to receive new surgical, maternity units". Catholic News Agency. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  62. ↑ "Zambia". CMMB. Retrieved 2019-01-10.
  63. ↑ KHN, BD, Catholic Medical Mission Board Launch HIV/AIDS Project in Zambia. May 13, 2005
  64. ↑ NPI-Connect, Transforming Men Into Leaders In The Fight Against HIV/AIDS. Retrieved on 03/03/2016
  65. ↑ American Public Health Association, 141st APHA Annual Meeting Recordings, Men as partners: Preventing HIV/AIDS and promoting gender equity with innovative male involvement in PMTCT and VCT services. November 4, 2013
  66. ↑ XIX International AIDS Conference, Washington DC, USA. Involvement of traditional community leaders improves uptake and community ownership of PMTCT and HCT services in rural areas of Zambia Archived 2016-12-20 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved on 03/08/2016
  67. ↑ President’s Malaria Initiative, Malaria Operational Plan (MOP) Archived 2015-12-02 at the Wayback Machine, p.19. September 19, 2011.
  68. ↑ "NGO Pledges $500 Million Towards Sustainable Development Goals | Inter Press Service". www.ipsnews.net. 25 March 2016. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  69. ↑ "Safe Water Improves Lives in Zambia - Zambia". ReliefWeb. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  70. ↑ "UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa - Gender - Gender and water, sanitation and hygiene(WASH)". www.unicef.org. Archived from the original on 2019-01-30. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  71. ↑ "Attorney General Becerra Secures Cease and Desist Orders and Over One Million Dollars in Penalties Against Three Charities for Deceptive Solicitations" retrieved December 8, 2019
  72. ↑ "CMMB 2019 Financial Statements" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2020-01-14.
  73. ↑ "Charity Navigator - Rating for Catholic Medical Mission Board" retrieved December 8, 2019
  74. ↑ "The 100 Largest U.S. Charities". Forbes. Retrieved 2019-01-10.
  75. ↑ "10 of the Best Charities Everyone's Heard Of". Charity Navigator. Retrieved 2019-01-10.
  76. ↑ "NPT Top100 (2018): All Signs Pointing Upward". The NonProfit Times. Retrieved 2019-01-10.
  77. ↑ CNBC, The Top 10 Charities Changing The World. Retrieved on 03/08/2016
  78. ↑ CNBC.com, Susan Caminiti, special to (2016-11-29). "The top 10 charities changing the world in 2016". www.cnbc.com. Retrieved 2019-01-10.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  79. ↑ BBB Wise Giving Alliance, Catholic Medical Mission Board. Retrieved on 03/08/2016
  80. ↑ Damien-Dutton Award Archived 2016-12-20 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved on 06/22/2016
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