Dear Friends:
This year we celebrate HealthRight’s 25th anniversary. Dr. Jonathan Mann started HealthRight in 1990 to realize his vision of health for all by building access to health services for excluded communities. Thirty countries and hundreds of thousands of lives touched later, I am confident he’d be proud of the organization today.
At the 2015 Health and Human Rights Awards Dinner on June 16th in NYC, we celebrated three honorees that have lived Dr. Mann’s vision. Dr. Larry Brilliant started his career providing care to Native Americans living on reservations, helped lead the effort to eradicate smallpox, and is now actively engaged in efforts to leverage new technology to expand health access and counter global health threats. Medic Mobile uses software and web-based technology to empower and equip front-line health workers in low-income countries. And for more than a decade, Steve Berger has helped HealthRight realize Dr. Mann’s vision of health for all, first as a member of HealthRight’s Board of Directors and now as Chairman.
And while we look back and honor 25 years of work and our honorees contributions to healthcare around the world, this evening is also about looking ahead. HealthRight has an exciting new partnership with NYU’s College of Global Public Health that is built around collaboration in three areas: the development of new programs and research, thought leadership, and training future public health professionals. One of the earliest fruits of this collaboration will be a jointly developed professional certificate in health and human rights for graduate students, lawyers and health professionals.
We are also responding to pressing needs: in response to the tragic Nepal earthquake, HealthRight is partnering with FSB Clinic in Kathmandu to support several mobile clinics that have been established to provide badly needed care in the most affected areas. Funds raised by HealthRight will be used to purchase supplies and equipment to equip these clinics. To support the Nepal relief efforts please click here.
In the future, we will also look a little bit different – over the next 12 months HealthRight will re-organize our efforts with a focus on five key marginalized populations:
- Women and babies
- Migrants
- At-risk adolescents
- Sexual minorities
- Orphans and vulnerable children
This population-based focus (rather than our current geographic one) will enable us to develop a deeper portfolio of projects that address the needs of each population, leverage our core competencies across countries, and simplify communications and fundraising.
For 25 years HealthRight has improved the health and wellbeing of countless individuals around the world. Our important work continues as we embark on our second quarter century, and together we can help realize Jonathan Mann’s dream of health for all. Wishing you a joyful and relaxing Summer season, and thank you for your support.
Sincerely,
Peter S. Navario, PhD, MPH
Executive Director
