The Atlantic Philanthropies Award $5.8 Million to Medical Education Cooperation with Cuba (MEDICC)

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Medical Education Cooperation with Cuba

Nov 12, 2013, 06:00 ET


Oakland, CA (PRWEB) November 12, 2013 -- Medical Education Cooperation with Cuba (MEDICC) today announced a $5.8 million grant from The Atlantic Philanthropies to enhance cooperation among the US, Cuban and global health communities working towards better health outcomes and equity. A portion of the award is a “challenge grant”, matching other foundation and individual donations one-to-one.

“We are honored that MEDICC has been chosen for a significant grant from The Atlantic Philanthropies, noted Gail Reed, MEDICC’s International Director. “And we are grateful for Atlantic’s support over the past decade, made in the spirit of its founding chairman, Chuck Feeney’s philanthropic philosophy of ‘giving while living’—aiming to make transformative change now, not later.”

Since 2002, MEDICC has received $16.7 million from Atlantic to foster exchange with Cuban health professionals, gain insights on Cuba’s use of scarce resources to achieve its impressive health outcomes, and promote cooperation leading to better health in Cuba, the USA and poor communities globally.

“We have greatly benefited from Atlantic’s vision of lasting change, and the foundation’s confidence in MEDICC has motivated others to support our work,” said Dr. Peter Bourne, chair of the MEDICC Board of Directors.

The four-year award will propel MEDICC signature programs:

• Publication of MEDICC Review, the only English-language, peer-reviewed journal on Cuban health and medicine, soon to publish a Latin American edition in Spanish.
• Support for Havana’s Latin American Medical School, the world’s foremost experiment in socially accountable medical training, graduating 16,000 physicians from 60 countries, including the USA. MEDICC assists these low-income students and graduates, who have pledged to return home to practice in underserved communities.
• Launch of Community Partnerships for Health Equity in cities across the United States, a program engaging community leaders and their academic partners in travel to Cuba, where they seek innovative models to spark new approaches to health-equity projects at home.
• Donations of international medical journals to Cuban health professionals, students and faculty.
• Travel between the USA and Cuba by US and Cuban health professionals for mutual-learning exchanges, fostering cooperation in the public interest.

For 16 years, MEDICC has disseminated lessons from the Cuban public health experience to inform global debate, policies and practice to improve health outcomes and equity, including production and distribution of the award-winning film ¡Salud!. See: http://www.medicc.org.

The Atlantic Philanthropies are dedicated to bringing lasting change in the lives of disadvantaged and vulnerable people. Atlantic is a limited-life foundation that makes grants through its five program areas: Ageing, Children & Youth, Population Health, Reconciliation & Human Rights; and Founding Chairman. Atlantic is active in Bermuda, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, South Africa, the United States and Viet Nam. To learn more, please visit: http://www.atlanticphilanthropies.org.

Jeannie Barbieri-Low, Medical Education Cooperation with Cuba, http://www.medicc.org, 805-233-7574, [email protected]