Why another medical humanitarian organization?
There’s one physician for every 20,000 people in parts of Africa alone. Underserved areas need more medical providers: surgeons, doctors, nurses, paramedics, eastern practitioners and mental health professionals. There are stark disparities in health care and health outcomes around the world. GoDocs envisions improving health care and health outcomes by building local capacity and improving health care delivery for under-served, disadvantaged populations worldwide. GoDocs is unique in offering both short term (2-3 weeks) and long term (indefinite) global health clinics and disaster deployments.
Why integrative medical providers?
According to the World Health Organization, Traditional Medicine Strategy 2014-2023: “Across the world, traditional medicine (TM) is either the mainstay of health care delivery or serves as a complement to it.” TM is an important and often underestimated part of health care. TM is found in almost every country in the world and the demand for its services is increasing. TM, of proven quality, safety, and efficacy, contributes to the goal of ensuring that all people have access to care. Many countries now recognize the need to develop a cohesive and integrative approach to health care that allows governments, health care practitioners and, most importantly, those who use health care services, to access TM in a safe, respectful, cost-efficient and effective manner. A global strategy to foster its appropriate integration, regulation and supervision will be useful to countries wishing to develop a proactive policy towards this important – and often vibrant and expanding – part of health care.
This is why the time is right for a volunteer NGO to provide complimentary medicine in disasters and under-served areas in low-and middle-income countries. Allopathic medicine is the go-to answer for many acute, traumatic and surgical health issues. But integrative health care is also effective for many patients. Around the globe, in any line of 200 patients we’ve personally encountered, Global Outreach Doctors offers more medical modalities to serve a wider variety of illness and disease. We also provide mental health professionals, who can be instrumental in stabilizing survivors of disasters and supporting medical teams through crisis counseling and psychological first aid.
Why doctors on the rubble pile?
GoDocs uniquely places definitive care, including medical doctors, on the rubble pile and in the field during disasters. It’s common practice in several global regions to deploy medical doctors in ambulances for acute care. A disaster victim can have a critically long transportation time to a hospital tent, and without an MD this transport time might be the difference between life and death.
Why canine search and rescue?
When a well-trained search and rescue canine barks or points, there’s a good chance a victim is under their feet. No human can be as effective in locating a buried victim as a canine. In locating potential survivors in a disaster, time is of the essence.
What about a sustainable longterm healthcare model?
GoDocs is committed to educating, training and providing a sustainable long-term healthcare model in the locations we serve. Our global health practices include supporting local medical resources through capacity building with established medical services and local and national governments and partners. GoDocs believes that volunteers in these setting should work to improve the quality and efficiency of care, not to replace local systems.
