Medical Missions - Make A Difference!

Crossing the borders of nine South American nations and containing the largest river system in the world, the Amazon Rainforest is an awe-inspiring natural wonder. According to the World Wide Fund for Nature, 1 in 10 known species of the world live in the Amazon Rainforest. Yet rich with natural resources, remote communities along the Amazon River suffer from lack of medical resources and often die from infectious diseases easily treatable with simple antibiotics.  International Medical Relief sends crews out into the Amazon on riverboats were they live and then dock near remote villages.  Smaller boats are then used to travel down shallow estuaries where the communities are given once-in-a-lifetime medical care.

International Medial Relief encounters many water-borne diseases as well as infectious diseases like Malaria. Recent outbreaks of Dengue, Yellow Fever, and Measles have led to an increased demand for health workers in The Amazon. The World Health Organization’s “Technical Cooperation Strategy” (drafted in conjunction with the Brazilian government) accounts for a recent trend in rural citizens’ health:

“As the proportion of the population classified as low-weight decreased, the number of persons classified as overweight increased, especially in the poorest regions and in rural areas. In 2004, 34.8% of households—equivalent to 72 million people—lived in a situation of nutritional insecurity, particularly observed in families headed by women or of African descent.”

IMR continues to run medical and dental clinics to address these issues.  With sugar in-take at all time highs, and no dentists, childhood extractions are abnormally elevated. With the popularity of “bon bon” suckers, with the world’s highest sugar production rates, and with a seemingly permanent spot ranked in the perennial top-five global sugar consumers, Brazil and Amazonian communities are in constant demand for qualified dentists.