Surmang News
ASSESSMENT of SURMANG PROTOTYPE of RURAL MEDICAL & HEALTH CARE SERVICES:
2009
by Peking University Institute of Population Studies & amara: the china rural health alliance
Abstracted Conclusions:
- The Surmang Clinic, compared to government alternatives, provides, higher quality care, is run at a lower operating cost, has providers that are better paid, more highly motivated, and prescribes fewer medicine.
- Last year, each family paid Y3313 RMB for medical and healthcare on average in Surmang Namgyal-tse compared to Y1268 RMB in Surmang Dutsi-til.
- Apart from economic incentives, CHWs also achieved an unusually high social status in a traditional culture. For example, some CHWs mentioned that in the Tibetan tradition, it is considered taboo to have other women present during childbirth. Now however, more and more pregnant women go to CHWs for help, indicating that growing trust in CHWs overrides default cultural habits, and signaling acceptance of CHWs as they would their own families. CHW project equips every CHW with scientific and effective delivery knowledge so that women's special needs are met and their pain reduced. Therefore teaching basic hygiene previously unknown to local people has won CHWs trust and respect. Besides, due to CHWs' special status, the project leader gives them special care, which has been mentioned previously. For example, in every year's interview, Dawn would perform physical examination on CHWs' sick family members and prepare small presents for their children.
- 2009 Statistics indicate that generally CHWs have become more enthusiastic about their work. CHWs of Rangduo/Wenduo delivered 57 babies independently. One most efficient CHW even delivered 6 babies independently. 14 babies were delivered by two or more CHWs cooperatively. CHWs of Surmang delivered 38 babies independently. The one most efficient CHW even participated in the delivery work of 8 babies. In addition, CHWs of Surmang also made 60 prenatal visits and 37 postnatal visits.
- On the average there are 5.61 people in one household in Surmang Dutsi-til and 5.74 in Surmang Namgyal-tse. Average annual per capita net income is Y1809 RMB in Surmang Dutsi-til and Y 2049 RMB in Surmang Namgyal-tse.
- Comparison of expenditure items in Surmang Namgyal-tse and Surmang Dutsi-til shows that over the past year, average health care cost was Y3313 RMB in Surmang Namgyal-tse, but only Y1268 RMB in Surmang Dutsi-til. So the average per capita health care cost was Y226.0 RMB in Surmang Dutsi-til and Y577.2 RMB in Surmang Namgyal-tse based on average household population. This is related to the free medical care and medicine provided by Surmang Charity Medical Center in Surmang Dutsi-til. In Surmang Namgyal-tse, quality of medical service is quite worrying, and improper prescription and low diagnosis ability not only restrict treatment of diseases, but also cost more money and time.
- This survey shows that women at child-bearing age who assume themselves to have gynecopathy account for 41.1% of the total respondents in Surmang Dutsi-til, notably lower than the 50.7% in Surmang Namgyal-tse.
- 28 infants died within one year after birth (mortality rate of 0 age population) in Surmang Dutsi-til, while only 4 in Surmang Namgyal-tse; based on small number of samples, the infant mortality rate is roughly estimated at 55.6% in Surmang Dutsi-til?which is lowered to 53.8% with the samples expanded to cover all women of childbearing age.
- Unlike a laboratory experiment that can effectively control the research environment and input variables, the Surmang Clinic project is a field experiment, with little, if any, control on its research environment and input variables. For 18 years, the operation of Surmang Clinic at Surmang Dutsi-til has successively assessed its methods and results, proactively modifying its research environment, by openly engaging beneficiaries and stakeholders. Thus it has generated a profound impact locally with its provision of health care services -- to improve their health and reduce their economic burden arising from illnesses. And this impact has in turn influenced the way the providers at the Surmang Clinic approach administering care.
- The statistical data shows that there are only 5 cases of maternal mortality in areas far from Surmang Clinic, accounting for 1.6% of the total respondents in Surmang Dutsi-til. Of the 5 cases, 1 case took place over the past one year while the other 4 over the past two years. According to the figures of KAP 2004, there were 3 maternal deaths reported among 93 live births in the prior year to the KAP. A time-based vertical comparison reveals that there is a significant improvement in maternal mortality in recent five years in Surmang Dutsi-til.
1Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) is the proportion of infant mortality per one thousand infants within one year after birth.
2The same as 6.
Peking University Signs Historic Agreement with Surmang Foundation/amara
Surmang Foundation/amara signed a partnership agreement today with Institute of Population Studies, Peking University. Peking University is among the top institutions of higher education in China. The partnership agreement is a major step in establishing a model network of 30 clinics based on the Surmang prototype. This model is focused on mother and child health and includes regional health centers, free medical care and free medicine, distance medical education, virtual communities of doctors, remote diagnosis, public health education in public schools. Due to extreme geographical remoteness and poverty, most ultra-poor in China have no access to quality health care.
Peking University will provide an assessment funded by a recent ÂY500,000 grant from the American Chamber of Commerce, China. The results of that assessment will contribute PKU's prestige and put its official imprimatur on Surmang/amara, helping to elevate the visibility and status of this planned health network. Institute of Population Studies, Peking University, is a major advisor to the Chinese MInistry of Health on rural health reform policy. The Chinese government has recently embarked on a reform of rural health policy that will allow alternative models for community-based health provision such as amara's.
Boulder Weekly publishes cover story about Surmang Foundation
The newspaper "Boulder Weekly: The only independent newspaper in Boulder, Colorado" published a story about the work of Surmang Foundation with the title "Free clinic brings the miracle of medicine to women and children in Tibet". Read the article >> here.
9 Days in Labor by Mike Lev, Chicago Tribune
Read the article >> here.
Surmang Foundation’s new face
The Surmang Foundation’s growing projects –Community Health Worker, Community Health Worker training, Public School health education, distance learning, diagnosis and referral via IT, regional health center—have been put under the big amara tent. After Jan 1, 2009 these projects will be amara projectsas the prototype of amara’s rural health network. While this prototype will be cooperatively developed by both amara and Surmang Foundations. Funding and management for these various projects will be amara’s. Surmang Foundation will focus almost exclusively on being the support mechanism for a primary care clinic, the Dharma Sagara Health Center. This change also allows Surmang Foundation to grow its local NGO partner, the Surmang Charity Medical Center, with medical and management being provided by its staff: Tsondru Tsering General Manager, Dr. Phuntsok Dongdrup, Clinic Director.
Amara receives ÂY500,000 grant from Amcham China
The American Chamber of Commerce, China has granted amara approximately $72,000 to develop the Surmang Prototype of its network of remote clinics. This is the first grant for amara and comes from the generosity of Amcham’s Charity Ball. The grant will support an assessment of the amara model, and create an advisory board to make the amara model capable of interfacing with advisors to China national rural health reform. In addition, funds will be used to create a rural medical training facility at Surmang.
Western Academy of Beijing Grants $15,000
Western Academy of Beijing, (WAB) a premier International baccalaureate international school in China, has granted funds to the Surmang prototype for the creation of a public school health education project. The grant came from the WAB PTA Charity Bazaar.
The project will bring health education to the nearly 400 public school students in the Surmang region, teaching them the essentials of personal hygiene, fighting infection. It will also repair broken windows, install flooring, create soccer pitches, and basketball courts in addition to providing clothing for the Surmang students. It will be carried out by the Community Health Workers.
Read the 2007 Surmang Annual Report
Read the report >> here.
Amara & Surmang Foundation Weekly Bulletin Vol III No. 1
Read the bulletin >> here.
Amara & Surmang Foundation Weekly Bulletin Vol II. extra
Read the bulletin >> here.
New Programs
Please check out our exciting new membership and alternative gift programs.
John Holden Joins AMARA's Board of Directors
Joining AMARA's Board of Directors is John Holden, a former President of the American Chamber of Commerce in China and long-time China-hand, whose experience and connections will be a great asset to the success of AMARA. Read an interview with John Holden >> here.
Off-Roading - SF's New Fleet
Chrysler Corporation donated two vehicles to Surmang Foundation/Amara: a Jeep Grand Cherokee 4x4 and a Mitsubishi Pajero (Montero) 4x4. The Pajero will be used at the clinic for evacuation, volunteer transport, and vaccine and meds support, as well as generally making it easier and quicker for our doctors to reach patients across the mountainous terrain. The Cherokee SUV will be used in conjunction with the Beijing office. The value of the donation is over $80,000.
Surmang Foundation Receives $67,000 Grant
Surmang Foundation is the recipient of a $67,000 anonymous donation. The donation was marked by a ceremony with the Wu Jieping Foundation in Beijing. WJP is the only foundation in China connected with the Ministry of Health, and will be the fiduciary for this donation. The grant will cover projects that give remote women and children greater access to medical care through the foundation's corps of 40 Community Health Workers (CHW). In it's third year, the CHW projects are the arms and legs of the Surmang clinic, assist in birthing, as well as aiding in public health education, remote patient diagnosis and referral. The grant will create of training materials that are interactive, culture-specific and not dependent of the written word. Most of Surmang Foundation's more than 40 Community Health Workers are illiterate. In addition the grant will contribute to medical staff salaries, IT-related expenses such as satellite service, the clinic water system, and upgrading of the Surmang resources website, www.surmang.org.cn.
Surmang Sponsors BabyAid Fundraiser September 28th
Surmang Foundation will hold a fundraiser in Boulder, Colorado to support maternal/infant mortality projects in remote east Tibet. There will be a dinner, an open bar, live entertainment and an auction. All donations are tax-deductable through Surmang Foundation (USA).
>> more information (www.babyaid.net)
Location: Elks Lodge, 3975 28th St, Boulder
Time: September 28, 6 pm
Contact: Mary Brooks, 303 530 1727, email: maryb@boulder.net
Interview with Lee Weingrad and Julie Carpenter
Surmang Foundation in the Boulder Weekly
Please take a look at the comprehensive article about our work in the current:
Surmang Signs Agreement with the Wu Jie Ping Foundation of the Ministry of Health of China
We are pleased to announce the signing of an agreement with the Wu Jie Ping Foundation of the Ministry of Health of China. The agreement calls for the creation of an umbrella organization to be called China Rural Health Alliance. This organization will be the container for strategic solutions to the rural health care crisis in China. Rural China has 28 million people who live on less than US$0.10 per day. Another 100 million live on less than US$1.00/ day. Included in the former are all 5 million ethnic Tibetans. Maternal mortality among ethnic Tibetans claims over 2500 women a year.
The new organization will be an alliance of government, non-profit, and multinational corporations. The strategic solutions include the major goals of creating better access to services and increased capacity for care providers. In particular this means the creation of a network of 30 remote clinics, connected by IT, as well as distance medical education to support medical provider training, remote diagnosis and consultation. Surmang Foundation will be the driving force in this alliance, and all of our projects, will be supported by this initiative. Dharma Sagara Clinic will expand to become a pilot project featuring include in-patient building, expanded solar pv capacity, staff housing and a doctor training center.
According to Lee Weingrad, "In the last 10 years Surmang Foundation has treated over 60,000 patients for free. With this initiative, in 10 more years we can say we have treated over 2,000,000. To give an indication of the size of the problem if all 28 million moved to Europe, they would be the 6th largest country." The agreement is timely, since Chinese Premier Hu Jiantao recently announced a major overhaul of China's rural health delivery system. Human services are the largest sector of the Chinese economy and health care is the largest sector of human services, attracting powerful foreign investment both in services and health care infrastructure.
Surmang Foundation at Embassy Reception for Michelle Kwan
On Friday Jan. 19th the US Embassy hosted a reception for Michelle Kwan at the Deputy Chief of Mission's residence. Ms. Kwan, Olympic figure skating gold medalist, and professional world figure skating champion, is currently on a world tour as a special emissary for the US State Department.
She is lending her support to the various programs run by US charities in China including those of American Chamber of Commerce members. The reception was a opportunity to honor to AmCham's recent Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects and their recent publication, Partnering for Progress. Surmang Foundation is one of projects and one of 9 foundations highlighted in the CSR book.
Surmang Foundation was represented by Lee Weingrad, his wife Wang Wenjing, and SF's Chinese partner, Mr. Guo Jing of Soong Ching-ling Foundation. Ms. Kwan was extremely gracious is extending her own personal support and that of the US State Department for the projects of Surmang Foundation. Mr. Weingrad said that he found her a very warm and genuine person.
According to Mr. Weingrad, "we were honored to be the only private foundation at the reception. Ms. Kwan is a worthy representative of the US and was very supportive of our work. I personally invited her to visit Qinghai and Sichuan provinces to see for herself."
Surmang Foundation Annual Report Released
