Project HOPE Leadership Travels to Namibia to Meet Health Officials and Visit Program Sites

Millwood, VA, September 12, 2012

A delegation from Project HOPE, a global health education and humanitarian assistance organization, has arrived in Namibia to meet with top health officials and visit HOPE program sites in the Kavango Region.   Members of the group include Project HOPE President and CEO John P. Howe III, M.D. and HOPE board members, George Abercrombie, former President and CEO of pharmaceutical company Hoffman-La Roche, Inc. and Walter Montgomery, CEO of global communications firm RLM Finsbury.

Currently, Project HOPE works closely in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Social Services in support of tuberculosis control initiatives. Project HOPE also leads an effort in Namibia to improve the well-being of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in partnership with the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare. The program provides economic strengthening opportunities for the children’s caregivers as well as health and parenting education.  More than 19,000 children will benefit from the program in six northern regions: Omusati, Oshikoto, Oshana, Ohangwena, Kavango and Caprivi by the end of 2013.

In Namibia, Project HOPE receives resources to conduct its programs from the United States Agency forInternational Development (USAID) and the Ministry of Health and Social Services via the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria(GFATM). “We are proud of our partnerships with the governments of Namibia and the United States. Without their support and partnership we would not be able to do the exciting work that we are doing here in Namibia,” said Steven Neri, Regional Director for Project HOPE.

“Our Project HOPE staff and volunteers have been working hard to educate the people here that TB is a treatable disease,” said Denise Moongo, Chief of Party for Project HOPE in Namibia.  “We have trained health care workers to help people recognize the signs of TB and refer them into the Ministry of Health and Social Services’ continuum of care for testing and treatment. If someone tests positive, we support them to ensure that they complete treatment.”

Project HOPE’s work in Namibia began in 2002 with a workplace HIV/AIDS education program.  In 2005 HOPE initiated its first OVC program in Namibia. In 2008, HOPE introduced comprehensive community-based tuberculosis (TB) programming in northern Namibia intended to reduce the burden of tuberculosis by providing education about the disease, screening, referrals into the health sector and treatment adherence.

“Project HOPE is dedicated to helping improve the health of the people in Namibia and throughout Africa. On this visit we hope to strengthen our relationships with our partner organizations and identify intersections of interest where HOPE’s expertise can be applied to address pressing health challenges in Namibia,” said John P. Howe III, MD, President and CEO of Project HOPE.

Project HOPE has a number of active programs on the continent of Africa.  HOPE recently sent a team of medical volunteers on a U.S. Navy ship to deliver care and health training in Ghana, Benin, Togo and Liberia. HOPE also directs ongoing health programs in Cameroon, Mozambique, Malawi, South Africa and Tanzania.

About Project HOPE

Founded in 1958, Project HOPE (Health Opportunities for People Everywhere) is dedicated to providing lasting solutions to health crises, with the mission of helping people to help themselves.  Identifiable to many by the SS HOPE, the world’s first peacetime hospital ship, Project HOPE now conducts land-based medical training and health education programs in 35 countries across five continents.