CDC Foundation and Polio eradication

If you've ever worked for a government agency of any kind, then you know how ridiculously bureaucratic and red-tapey they can be. Sadly, CDC is no different. However, there are many times when epidemiologists are out in the field and need to do something quickly--far faster than the regular bureaucratic system can handle. Thankfully, CDC Foundation exists. It's a non-profit whose mission is to support the activities of CDC employees; and they could not possibly be more helpful. Every time I've been out in the field CDC Foundation has stepped up to the plate to cover the cost of something that regular ol' CDC can't or won't cover. CDC Foundation is able to put funds towards pretty much anything, from printing large quantities of flyers, to purchasing vehicles, to office supplies, to (and this is my favorite so far) providing financial support to volunteers from developing countries who have been injured while working on disease eradication campaigns.

Here's a blurb from CDC Connects (the in house newsletter) that I found interesting (I'd put the link in, but the original article is behind a firewall).
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Public Health Heroes Face Dangers, Deserve Help
4/4/2006

More often than you might imagine, polio eradication volunteers in India, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan, and other countries have encountered unexpected tragedy in the line of duty. Some have paid the ultimate price for their selfless efforts to improve the health of their children and countrymen. Others have lost limbs to errant land mines. Still others fall victim to gun skirmishes and violent retribution. Incredibly, one lost his life to a crocodile hidden in the murky waters of a shallow river in southern Somalia.

Bob Keegan, Deputy Director of the Global Immunization Division, presented these stories and a clear message for attendees of a session open to all employees―collaboration with the CDC Foundation and/or other public health partners will become critical for managers responsible for improving public health domestically or globally. Keegan described the two funds established in collaboration with the CDC Foundation that are helping to mitigate some of the challenges polio volunteers meet in the field as well as honor the fallen heroes in the global campaign against vaccine-preventable diseases.

Drawing from concrete examples, Keegan peppered his presentation with sobering stories and snapshots of the wounded heroes of the global polio eradication efforts:
Six volunteers have lost their lives in helicopter crashes, 22 have perished in automobile or motorcycle wrecks Two have died in animal attacks. Others have been injured or killed in civil conflicts or other acts of violence.

Until CDC’s Polio Eradication staff identified the problem and solicited the help of the CDC Foundation, there was no systematic or satisfactory way to compensate families of loved ones who sacrificed their lives in the performance of a public health mission. There was no insurance or other mechanism to mitigate suffering and repair injured bodies.

Heroes Fund Helps Public Health Volunteers and Their Families in Time of Need
The CDC Foundation and the Global Immunization Division began discussions in 2000 to create The Polio Eradication Heroes Fund, designed specifically to address the needs of public health volunteers and their families in developing countries, whenever injury, suffering, or death occurred as a direct consequence of polio eradication program efforts. The fund is designed, for example:
To help heroes like Awad Abdallah heal after losing a leg to a land mine
To help restore the lives of the surviving children who lost their father, Mark Odera, during a bombing in southern Sudan
To alleviate the trauma of nine Somalis who were shot while safeguarding vaccines and the international staff trying to deliver them.
The CDC Foundation has created and facilitated a process to ensure that basic needs are met following such tragedies.
The idea―to provide a stipend for subsistence, medical care, or children’s educational needs after a family’s income has been interrupted by a tragedy. The CDC Foundation has helped to raise $90,000 for the “Heroes Fund” from public and private sector donations, non-profits and CDC employees. To date, approximately $50,000 has been disbursed in 46 awards to those in need.

“The Polio Heroes Eradication Fund sends a message that CDC and the CDC Foundation recognize the sacrifices of workers and volunteers in communities who are the backbone of our global health activities,” says Keegan. “It adds a human element to the public health and scientific reputation of CDC.” The “Heroes Fund” has brought about heartfelt praise and recognition to CDC and the CDC Foundation, as well as the respect and good will of the international community’s public health diplomats. The fund is also supported by Rotary, WHO, and UNICEF.

Endowment for Global Health Priorities
A second fund established by committed employees and friends of CDC, the Endowment for Global Health Priorities, provides rapid and flexible programmatic support to obtain essential equipment and supplies to global immunization project areas within days - a fraction of the time it takes the federal government or United Nations’ procurement processes to unfold. The Endowment allows for the purchase and rapid deployment of items such as
Satellite maps
Communications equipment
Motor scooters
Meals-ready-to-eat (MREs)
Keegan believes that the CDC Foundation’s rapid administrative turn-around can save governments and international agencies hundreds of thousands of dollars in missed opportunities and bureaucratic efforts.
“The CDC Foundation was established to facilitate and complement the work of CDC employees,” explains Keegan. “It is ‘your foundation.’ CDC employees have a key role in making the CDC Foundation successful. It is no free ride; you do have to expend the effort to work with the Foundation closely from start to finish toward the accomplishment of a common goal.”

For more information on the Polio Eradication Heroes Fund or The Endowment for Global Health Priorities, contact the CDC Foundation here.
This Inside Story by Carlos Alonso, Health Communications Specialist, Epi-X Program, National Center for Health Marketing.


Awad Abdallah lost his leg in a landmine accident while conducting the polio immunization campaign in the Nuba Mountains in March 1998.


This is the family of the late Mark Odera, who was killed by a bomb in Southern Sudan.



Eight of the nine heroes from the Mogadishu shootout are pictured here. They were shot while safeguarding vaccines and the international staff trying to deliver them.

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I'm going to be going to India or Africa this summer to work on polio eradication; and while that's an amazing experience for me, and I hope I can contribute something, I get to come home when I'm done. I don't have to watch members of my family become crippled from polio, or suffer from malnutrition, or be threatened by individuals with guns who aren't interested in why the work I do can help them. The volunteers who live in the countries with all these problems (and more), but still find it within themselves to try to make a difference, they are the ones I admire more than I can possibly express. It's easy to take the selfless route of helping others when you get rewarded for it (through a more than decent salary and a great career) and don't have to give up anything to do so; it's a much more difficult thing to do when the only thanks you might get is a thank you.

It's official

We have moved in. We have a working desktop computer with an internet connection.

Well, actually there's still a ton of work to do, but I think this is a major accomplishment. D and I have been working off of our laptops for the past...oh....four months. It's about time we have an actual work space set up. (It's not so bad for me 'cause a) I use the computer at work, and b) my hands are much smaller, so using a laptop keyboard isn't that hard.)

The actual accomplishment is that the front room is done (well, more or less. the painting's done. We still have to put quarter-round around the floor, and put up the moulding around the door, and finish the bookshelves, but the important thing is that it is livable space!).

Love,
J

Air quality website

This is a really neat website which posts air quality data for all major US cities. Ozone season starts May 1st. Should be interesting to see where Salt Lake falls. (Of course, I think our bad air quality season is actually winter since we get inversion layers.)

Ice Cream

I was sitting at home last night (after spending the entire weekend painting the living room, but that's done now) eating Breyers Mint Chocolate Chip and it occurred to me that I could probably write something fairly long and detailed on the different flavors of ice cream I like. So here goes...

Ben and Jerry's Chocolate Therapy: The name says it all. For anyone who has ever used chocolate as a mood altering agent, this is the one to go for when you're in a really lousy mood. And, because it's so rich, you won't be able to eat huge amounts of it.

Haagen Daaz Coffee: You don't get much better or more basic than this. I have many a fond memory of managing to eat a whole pint of this while sitting around talking to my mom (who, incidentally, ate a fair amount of it herself). When you adulterate your coffee with cream and sugar, this is the flavor you're aiming for. (B&J's From Russia With Buzz was also another amazing coffee ice cream, although it lacked the simple purity of Haagen Daaz's approach.)

Mint Chocolate Chip deserve a section by itself, in my opinion. There are so many great ones (and I love mint) that it's hard to decide which one to write about. However, I think there is one version of mint chip that stands out above the rest. Ben and Jerry's Entangled Mints, a combination of Mint Chocolate Cookie (Mint ice cream made with all natural peppermint extract and mint cookies) and Marble Mint Chunk (chocolate mint ice cream with fudge chunks). Mmmm...yummy.

Turtle Mountain makes Soy Delicious, a line of really good soy "ice creams." Stop laughing (or cringing). I'm serious here. They really are good, and taste similar enough to regular ice creams, that I'm happy using them as a substitute. Of course, this is Utah and I haven't had a whole lot of luck finding them out here.

And of course, there's all the places that may or may not have had really good ice cream, but have really good memories associated with them. Dairy Queen in Pentwater Michigan, where we'd go after dinner with the whole passel of kids and parents and grandparents. Cody's in Lewiston-Auburn, Maine, when we were visiting the house in Wayne. And how 'bout the time D and I went to the store with my nieces, A and A, to pick up some ice cream for dessert and couldn't decide which flavors we wanted, so we came back with about 20. (I have a pic of that around somewhere. I'll find it and post it here soon.)

So that's enough about ice cream. Now I have to be good, stop avoiding Monday morning and get back to work.