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Join the Kennedy Fund for Women and Children
Endemic diseases were rampant. Infant mortality was a shocking 50%, with more than a third of women dying in childbirth. The lack of quality healthcare in the Al Ain region of the United Arab Emirates led Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan and his brother, Sheikh Shakbut, to ask Drs. Pat and Marian Kennedy to establish Oasis Hospital in 1960. Drs. Pat & Marian brought quality health care and much more. They brought hope and compassion.
During the 15 years the Kennedys spent in Al Ain, they saw the first buildings of the hospital constructed, babies being born and surviving, and a more permanent community begin to grow. They saw the formal establishment of health care in the country. The impact and contribution of the Kennedys was significant and their legacy lives on at Oasis Hospital.
In honor of their work, The Kennedy Fund for Women & Children was established. This fund will help women and children in Afghanistan get the quality care that they so desperately need. Why Afghanistan? In Afghanistan, today in 2009, the same deadly conditions that the UAE had in 1960 rob the Afghan people of life, and of hope.
Consider these tragic statistics:
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--Every thirty minutes a woman dies giving birth in Afghanistan. It is estimated that over 80% of these deaths could be prevented.
--More than 70% of women do not receive any medical care during pregnancy and 40% have no access to emergency obstetric care.
--An infant whose mother dies giving birth is up to four times more likely to die before its first birthday than other infants.
--Women are about 211 times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes in Afghanistan than in the U.S.
--An infant is about 20 times more likely to die in its first year of life in Afghanistan than in the U.S.
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CURE International Hospital of Kabul
CURE International Hospital of Kabul is training doctors and midwives to meet the critical maternal health care needs of the population. The CURE International OB/GYN Fellowship Program is specifically for female physicians and is the only program of its kind in Afghanistan. These doctors are  estimated to see 4,000-5,000 patients annually.
In the same way that the Kennedys and Oasis Hospital changed health care in the UAE, CURE International Hospital of Kabul is improving health care throughout Afghanistan. It is because of programs like this that the infant and maternal mortality rate, according to a recent Johns Hopkins study, is declining in Afghanistan.
Would you help bring hope, compassion and life to women and their babies in Afghanistan? The cost of training these doctors, including care for more than 10,000 mothers and newborns, is $550,000 annually. Your contribution, of any kind, will help to keep this Fellowship Program running for another year. Would you honor the Kennedys in this way? Donate Now >
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