Partners In Health Canada is created and launched

PARTNERS IN HEALTH CANADA

November 16, 2011

Dear Friends,

We write to you today with some very exciting news: Partners In Health Canada recently received official charitable status from the Canada Revenue Agency and has started operations, based out of Toronto. Francais ci-dessous.

PIH Canada is a sister organization of Partners In Health, based in Boston, as well as Zanmi Lasante (ZL) in Haiti and Inshuti Mu Buzima (IMB) in Rwanda. Leveraging partnerships with these organizations and others, PIH Canada's mission is to engage Canadians in bringing lifesaving care to the marginalized poor, specifically in Haiti and Rwanda, and to stand in solidarity with our patients in their struggle for health and social justice.

Please visit our website at http://www.pih.org/canada. You can make a tax-deductable donation today through CanadaHelps: http://www.pih.org/canadahelps-double-your-impact.

We believe high-quality medical care is a human right, and that the health of the world's poor places a unique claim on our collective moral obligation. This is the vision that PIH Canada's work will uphold. We look forward to working with all those across Canada—students and seniors, corporations and community groups, universities and other NGOs—who share our passion for this work.

A small glimpse of the task at hand: Across Haiti, PIH / ZL staff are working tirelessly to stem the cholera epidemic that has devastated communities still struggling to recover from the January 2010 earthquake. At the same time, work continues in Mirebalais on the most ambitious project ever undertaken by PIH in its nearly 25-year history: a 320-bed teaching hospital that will train the next generation of Haitian doctors while providing urgently needed medical services and surgical capabilities never before seen in a Haitian public hospital. PIH Canada will be engaging in critical work in both of these areas.

In Rwanda, meanwhile, where more than a third of the population lives on less than $1 per day, PIH / IMB are working closely with the national and district governments to create success stories in areas as diverse as AIDS treatment and prevention, maternal and neonatal health, and chronic disease and cancer care—all while strengthening public sector healthcare capacity. PIH Canada will be there to do our part.

I hope you will join us.

Donations up to a total of $30,000 will be matched until December 31. Make a donation online to Partners In Health Canada through CanadaHelps by clicking here: http://www.pih.org/canadahelps-double-your-impact. You will receive an automatic tax receipt via email. Donations can also be made by cheque, made out to 'Partners In Health Canada,' and sent to the following address:

PIH Canada
526 Queen Street East
Toronto, ON   M5A 1V2

Thank you for your generosity and support in helping us launch PIH Canada. Together, we can provide lifesaving care and high-quality medical services while addressing root causes of poverty and disease in the communities we serve. Our collective work is just beginning.

With warmest regards and appreciation,

Mark Brender
Director, Partners In Health Canada

P.S. If you are interested in getting involved further, please contact me at mbrender@pih.org. I look forward to hearing from you.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Français ci-dessous

Partners In Health Canada marks launch with appeal to staunch Haiti's cholera epidemic

Canadian sister organization to global health leader Partners In Health is born;
supporters include Grammy winning band Arcade Fire, ONEXONE Foundation

November 16, 2011 (TORONTO) – Partners In Health Canada is joining the call for urgent action to stem the cholera epidemic in Haiti that has killed more than6,500 people and infected nearly half a million over the past year.

PIH Canada is a sister organization to Boston-based Partners In Health, an international NGO that for the past quarter century has redefined what's possible in global health by successfully tackling diseases and conditions once thought too expensive or complicated to treat in poor or rural settings.

To kick off the launch of Partners In Health Canada, an anonymous donor has pledged to match public donations up to a total of $30,000 through the end of 2011.

“With the proper resources and mobilization, thousands of lives can be saved and the cholera epidemic can be beaten back, but the time to act is now,” said Mark Brender, Director of Partners In Health Canada.

The mission of Partners In Health Canada is to engage Canadians in bringing lifesaving care to the marginalized poor, specifically in Haiti and Rwanda, and to stand in solidarity with those we serve in their struggle for health and social justice. PIH Canada is supported by like-minded organizations including Montreal-based KANPE Foundation (www.kanpe.org), ONEXONE Foundation (www.onexone.org) and the Grammy Award winning rock band Arcade Fire (www.arcadefire.com).

“Arcade Fire supports Partners in Health not only because of their strong moral commitment to serving those who need it most. We support them because they are really, really good at what they do,” said band member Will Butler. “We witnessed them in Haiti providing thorough, high quality medical care to patients--regardless of ability to pay--in some of the most trying circumstances in the world. It's exciting that PIH Canada is now here to raise awareness and engage Canadians in this critical work.”

Earlier this year, OneXOne Foundation pledged $3-million to PIH Canada to support the building and operation of the ONEXONE pediatric wing at Partners In Health’s new state-of-the-art public teaching and referral hospital in Mirebalais, Haiti, set to open next year.

“This is one of the most important and impactful projects – and indeed one of the most groundbreaking organizations – that we have ever supported,” said Joey Adler, Founder of ONEXONE. ”I hope all Canadians join ONEXONE in getting behind the efforts of Partners In Health Canada.”

Donations eligible for the matching program can be made online through www.canadahelps.org, or by sending a cheque to Partners In Health Canada, 526 Queen St. E., Toronto, ON, M5A 1V2. PIH Canada is a registered charity with Canada Revenue Agency.

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Contact: Mark Brender, Partners In Health Canada, 647-461-6012, mbrender@pih.org

«Partners In Health» Canada souligne son lancement par un appel à endiguer l'épidémie de choléra en Haïti

L'organisation-sœur canadienne de «Partners In Health», une organisation qui fait figure de leader en matière de santé mondiale est née

Le groupe Arcade Fire, qui a été récompensé par un Grammy Award, et la fondation ONEXONE apportent leur soutien a “Partners in Health” Canada

16 novembre 2011 (TORONTO) – « Partners In Health» Canada (PIH Canada) se joint à l'appel à l’action de façon urgente pour enrayer l'épidémie de choléra sévissant en Haïti. L’épidémie a déjà fait 6500 victimes l’année dernière et infecté près de 500000 personnes.

PIH Canada est une organisation-sœur de «Partners In Health», une organisation non-gouvernementale internationale basée à Boston, aux États-Unis. «Partners In Health» a repoussé depuis vingt-cinq ans les limites du possible dans le domaine de la santé mondiale en s'attaquant avec succès à des maladies et problèmes jugés trop compliqués ou trop dispendieux à traiter dans des communautés défavorisées ou alors en zone rurale.

Pour permettre le lancement de l'organisation PIH Canada, un donateur anonyme a promis de faire un don équivalant aux donations reçues jusqu’à la fin de l’anneé 2011, pour un maximum de 30000 dollars.

« Avec les ressources nécessaires et une bonne mobilisation, des milliers de vies peuvent être sauvées et l'épidémie de choléra peut être endiguée, mais il faut d’agir maintenant », explique Mark Brender, directeur de PIH Canada.

PIH Canada souhaite engager les Canadiens dans ses efforts et a pour mission les soins de santé nécessaires, qui sont vitaux au sein de populations pauvres et marginalisées, en particulier en Haïti et au Rwanda et de soutenir tous ceux auxquels PIH apporte leur aide dans leur lutte pour la santé et la justice sociale. PIH Canada est soutenue par des organisations aux objectifs similaires, comme la Fondation KANPE basée à Montréal (www.kanpe.org), la Fondation ONEXONE (www.onexone.org) et le groupe de rock Arcade Fire récompensé par un Grammy Award (www.arcadefire.com).

« Arcade Fire soutient PIH non seulement pour leur engagement moral à aider ceux qui en ont le plus besoin. Nous les soutenons aussi parce qu'ils sont vraiment, vraiment très bons dans ce qu'ils font », explique Will Butler, un des membres du groupe. « Nous les avons vu à l’oeuvre en Haïti, où ils fournissent une prise en charge médicale complète et de grande qualité aux patients, peu importe leur capacité de payer, et ce dans des conditions parmi les plus difficiles au monde. C'est excitant de voir que PIH Canada est dorénavant ici pour sensibiliser et engager les Canadiens dans ce travail crucial ».

Plus tôt cette année, la Fondation OneXOne a promis un don de 3 millions de dollars à PIH Canada afin de soutenir la construction et la gestion de l'aile pédiatrique ONEXONE dans le tout nouveau centre hospitalier en coopération avec l'organisation PIH à Mirebalais, en Haïti qui doit ouvrir l'année prochaine. L’hôpital universitaire sera un hôpital public, et servira comme centre d’enseignement et de référence.

« Il s'agit d'un des projets les plus importants – et ayant la plus grand portée – auquel nous avons donné notre appui. C’est aussi une des organisations les plus novatrices que nous ayons soutenu », explique Joey Adler, fondateur d'ONEXONE. « J'espère que tous les Canadiens se joindront à ONEXONE et soutiendront les efforts de PIH Canada ».

Les dons (qui seront doublés par le donateur anonyme de PIH Canada jusqu’à concurrence de 30000$) peuvent être faire en ligne au: www.canadahelps.org, ou en envoyant un chèque à «Partners In Health» Canada: 526 Queen St. E., Toronto, ON, M5A 1V2. PIH Canada est un organisme de bienfaisance enregistré auprès de l'Agence du Revenu du Canada.

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Contact: Mark Brender, «Partners In Health» Canada, 647-461-6012, mbrender@pih.org