International Medical Corps

International Medical Corps (known also as IMC) is a global humanitarian nonprofit organization established by volunteer doctors and nurses. The organization provides disaster relief, delivers health care to underserved regions, builds clinics, and trains local health care workers with the goal of creating self-reliant, self-sustaining medical services and infrastructure in places where that had previously been lacking.

IMC focuses on primary and secondary health care, prevention and treatment of infectious diseases such as malaria, cholera, dysentery, and HIV/AIDS, supplemental food for malnourished children, clean water and hygiene education, mental health and psychosocial care, and microfinance programs that allow people to earn their own income.

International Medical Corps is a founding member of the ONE Campaign and a member of the Clinton Global Initiative.

History

The organization was founded in 1984 by Dr. Robert Simon, together with a group of American volunteer physicians and nurses, founded International Medical Corps. Simon is a professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Rush University, John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County in Chicago. He is the former Bureau Chief of the Cook County Bureau of Health Services.

Current operations

International Medical Corps works in some 30 countries in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, providing relief to populations facing war, conflict, natural disaster, famine, and poverty while also laying the foundation for sustainable development. Its programs are funded from both public and private sources, including the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the USAID Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, The European Commission's Humanitarian Aid Department (ECHO), The United Nations, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and AmeriCares.

International Medical Corps is based in Los Angeles with other offices in Washington, DC, London, England and Split, Croatia. They currently employ over 7,800 employees and thousands of volunteers in 30 countries.

International Medical Corps has provided disaster relief for people impacted by the 2010 Haiti earthquake,[1] the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami,[2] the Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa, and the April 2015 Nepal earthquake.

References

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/29/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.