Raj Panjabi: No one should die because they live too far from a doctor
Everyone gets sick in the world; but, even in 2017, VAST numbers of people have no hope of care. A BILLION people lack access simply because they live so far from a clinic it’s impossible to get there even IF they had transportation to do so. Then there’s war—like in Liberia which has now left only 51 doctors for the entire country of 4 million people!
This TED video is about what one physician, Raj Panjabi, is actually doing about it; and a practical answer for other countries to follow.
Access to health care is a crisis for a billion people on the planet in 2017.
Dr. Raj Panjabi
Providing Health Care Where There Is None
Civil war erupted in Liberia on Christmas Eve 1989, now the country of 4 million has just four doctors to serve the entire population; which, in perspective is like making all inhabitants of San Francisco be seen by just 10 doctors!
Worldwide, a billion people lack access to health care because they live too far from a clinic.
Dr. Panjabi’s quest to train community health workers is the only answer to this crisis of intolerable proportions. He was given the 2017 TED prize in hopes that his work training workers can expand to scale for the billion people without health care.
Panjabi’s experience training his own workers so far on only 30 proven medical interventions shows that training more could save nearly 30 million mothers and children by 2030.
The statistics show that providing just 30 proven services by community health workers will save 3 million lives a year.
Not too much to ask.