Staff Spotlight: ‘Without Health, Nothing Matters’
Project HOPE was Dr. Vlatko Uzevski’s first job out of medical school 13 years ago — and he’s been with us ever since.
“I’ve seen firsthand what it means when someone sees a doctor for the first time after 40 years.”
Vlatko Uzevski began his tenure at Project HOPE as a volunteer, while he was still a medical student.
Born, raised and based in Skopje, Macedonia, Uzevski is HOPE’s regional manager for the Balkans. He’s spent over a decade implementing the Strategic Medical Resupply program and supporting emergency response efforts.
“I’ve seen firsthand what it means when someone sees a doctor for the first time after 40 years — for someone to have medicine they’ve never had,” he says. “It’s a really fulfilling thing. It’s a great feeling to be there, to see that, and to see the joy of these people. Because without health, nothing matters.”
Like many countries in Eastern Europe, Macedonia struggles to meet health system standards, working with limited economic resources. It’s a challenge for health workers to keep up with advancements in treatment, many of them unable to pay for continued education. In the same vein, health facilities are often unable to afford the latest equipment or medicine.
Though his work with HOPE, Uzevski has helped deliver over $49 million in medicines, supplies and equipment to health facilities throughout Macedonia. But equipment doesn’t save lives, he says: Health workers do. That’s why, for nearly 30 years, HOPE has been connecting health workers in Macedonia to training on new procedures and equipment that have been “literally lifesaving.”
“Our mission is to enable health care workers to fulfill their full potential,” Uzevski says. “Training is the most sustainable way that you can help and support the health system. Health workers will have that knowledge for the rest of their lives, and they can share that knowledge with their colleagues… With small investments, you can have a huge impact.”
That impact came to life a year and a half ago, when HOPE sent a doctor and nurse from a neonatal intensive care unit in Macedonia to a training in the Netherlands. In a month, they learned how to insert umbilical catheters in newborns — a procedure that significantly reduces the risk of infection. Upon their return, HOPE supplied the unit with the catheters, and the doctor and nurse trained their colleagues on the new procedure.
The results have been tremendous: Neonatal mortality has decreased by almost 50%, and cases of sepsis have disappeared.
“The bottom line is that we are saving lives,” Uzevski says. “We’re saving at least 50 babies a year, just through training [on this procedure] and the equipment we’ve donated to be able to do that procedure.”
Uzevski has also seen the importance of reaching communities with health education in order to prevent and control disease. With chronic conditions like diabetes, for example, it’s hard to have a lasting impact if patients don’t have knowledge about the condition or the consequences of their choices. The same applies to communicable diseases, he says. You can give “all the antibiotics in the world” to communities, but diseases will still spread if there isn’t common knowledge around their cause.
Whether it’s by donating medicine and supplies, training health workers, or educating communities, he says, Project HOPE is making a difference throughout Macedonia by helping everyone access the health care they deserve.
“The goal of all the programs we have is the same — to help those in need.”
How you can help
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