Project HOPE’s Strategic Medical Re-Supply Program Improves Health Care Across Eastern Europe by Providing Quality Medicines And Saving Health Authorities Millions in Costs

Project HOPE CEO Visits Presidents of Kosovo and Macedonia as Governments Seek to Avoid Crippling Medical Supply Shortages and Create Sustainable Health Care Solutions

Millwood, VA, September 24, 2013

Project HOPE CEO John P. Howe III M.D. will visit the Presidents of Kosovo and Macedonia this week to discuss how to ease the countries’ health care needs and ways to build on the success of the global NGO’s Strategic Medical Re-Supply Program credited for saving health ministries across Central and Eastern Europe and Africa millions in costs. These savings are then carefully re-invested in the countries’ priority health reforms.

Project HOPE, a global health education and humanitarian assistance organization, initiated the Strategic Medical Re-Supply Program (SMRP) in Macedonia in 2007, and it has since grown to include Kosovo, the Federation of Bosnia & Herzegovina, Republic Srpska, Greece, Tanzania, Zanzibar and Albania.  Dr. Howe will visit the Kosovo President, Atifete Jahjaga, on Wednesday and the Macedonian President, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov, on Thursday to discuss the impact of the SMRP, an innovative Gift-In-Kind program that provides high-quality medicines and medical supplies to hospitals and university clinics to avoid medical supply shortages, as governments work to create sustainable health care solutions. The program provides a platform for the strategic placement of donations based on actual needs in each area.  It has improved access to treatment and yielded better outcomes by using high-quality medical products while informing health professionals about sophisticated new medicines and medical supplies.

“I’m delighted to have this opportunity to visit Macedonia and Kosovo and see firsthand that patients are experiencing better outcomes when treated with high-quality products, said John P. Howe III, M.D., President and CEO of Project HOPE.

“The beauty of the SRMP is that it brings together the health care industry, health policy makers, and health care providers – all being directly or indirectly involved in the implementation of the program, creating a sense of shared ownership of the design, execution and the outcomes as well.  As a result, this collaborative effort is a sustainable solution to a major health care need.”

The program’s successes to date include:

• Close to 80 hospitals and university clinics participate in the SMRP.
• Over 1,000,000 patients have been treated through the SMRP.
• Over $70M in value has been delivered through the program to date; over $40M in value delivered to Macedonia.
• Participating institutions receive essential medications, allowing the Ministries of Health to temporarily redirect resources to build a sustainable health care infrastructure.
• Project HOPE provides stringent monitoring of donations throughout its distribution channels.

“Thanks to our corporate partners from the global pharmaceutical and medical supply industries, which donate high quality medicines and medical supplies, we are able to create a program that is advancing the health care systems of Central and Eastern Europe and beyond.  HOPE is equally committed to improving the medical expertise of health professionals in Macedonia, Kosovo, and other neighboring republics by continuing health education programs in the region,” said Dr. Howe.

Dr. Howe will elaborate on the impact of the SMRP at a joint press conference with Macedonia’s Deputy Minister of Health, Jovica Andovski, on Thursday at the Hotel Aleksandar Palace in the capital, Skopje.

In Kosovo, Dr. Howe will also meet the Minister of Health, Dr. Ferid Agani, to discuss Kosovo’s future health care needs.

About Project HOPE

Founded in 1958, Project HOPE (Health Opportunities for People Everywhere) is dedicated to providing lasting solutions to health problems 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 provides medical training and health education, and conducts humanitarian assistance programs in more than 35 countries.  Visit our website projecthope.org and follow us on Twitter @projecthopeorg.