Introduction

HI EVERYBODY!  We’re Humanitarian Health International.  But you can call us HHI.  We’re on a journey to close the gap in the inequality of surgical care provided in the global health community.  We established in Fall 2012 with a small group of dedicated people who believe that, despite the overwhelming numbers of the underserved when it comes to access to surgical care, we can make a difference in lives and communities throughout the world.  A 2010 study by the Harvard School of Public Health estimated that there are 2 billion people around the world without access to proper surgical care.  That’s nearly 29% of everyone on earth!  Furthermore, the poorest 1/3 of the world’s population receives only 4% of the 234 million surgeries performed around the world every year.  Even in developing countries where surgical care is available, it almost always located in the urban sprawls within mostly rural environments.  


Sorry for all the numbers, but the more we consider them we realize that those types of statistics typically don’t change until people work together with the specific purpose of turning them around.  So what does HHI think can be done?  Well, it starts with action.  We are in the beginning stages of the process of creating a network of both medical professionals and community volunteers who want to help change these numbers and change lives.  While we realize we can’t magically create access to surgical care for the 2 billion people lacking it now, we can start making a life changing difference to individual people who desperately need it.  

Guaranda, Ecuador

We want to focus on basic surgeries that we may take for granted in the US.  These interventions can make a life and community changing difference in many parts of the world.  This is exactly where we plan to start.  We are currently working towards taking our first trip to Guaranda, Ecuador in the Summer of 2013 to provide cataract removal surgeries, which can restore sight to those currently without.  There is a lot of work to do before this trip, and we have a lot to learn, but we couldn’t be more excited by the journey we’re setting out on.  If you feel like you would like to be involved, whether it’s as a medical professional, community volunteer, or through donations, please contact us.  We’ll be updating the website regularly with where we are in our journey, along with profiling volunteers and some in the host community of Guaranda.