Our Work

Progressive Health Partnership was founded by two undergraduates at Duke University in November 2007. The organization, which is committed to increasing access to healthcare and other basic services for the global poor, promotes a community-based model of healthcare delivery and works with local populations as partners and equals.

PHP has established partnerships with Mayanja Memorial Hospital (MMH), Mayanja Memorial Hospital Foundation (MMHF), and the Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST). In 2009, PHP created its first DukeEngage group program. DE Uganda 2010 builds upon the framework built last summer, and we hope to continue expanding the size and scope of our projects in years to come.

Our work this year has two main components: (1) Safe Motherhood (SM) and (2) water, sanitation, and hygiene (WSH).

SM: We will continue to provide pregnant women with an array of prenatal services, something last summer's DE group did as well. These services include health education, physical examinations, ultrasound scans (using a portable, battery-run machine), and the distribution of medications and insecticide-treated bednets to prevent malaria. Later in the summer, we'll be following up on some of the women who attended our intervention (those whose pregnancies presented more complicated cases, for example). During the course of the intervention, we'll be running focus groups to learn more about the relevant issues surrounding pregnancies and maternal health.

WSH: Thanks to funding from the Ronald McDonald House Charities, PHP will be implementing a new rainwater-harvesting program. This stemmed from the community-based needs assessment conducted last year; according to community members, one of the most pressing problems is the scarcity of safe water. For example, we found that the average time to fetch water for a household is 45 minutes. Along with our community partners, we'll be installing rainwater-harvesting tanks at 76 public buildings throughout Kashongi, although the tanks will not fill until the rainy season later in the year. We'll also be carrying out an education campaign, along with a baseline survey, household water E. coli testing, and focus groups.