Floating Doctors will run 250+ mobile medical clinics over a 500-square mile area of Western Panama for the indigenous Ngabe living cut off from basic health care by poverty, social disenfranchisement, mangrove mazes and jungle-covered mountains. 10,000+ patients will receive care and emergency medical response. In addition, 3 Remote Medical Outposts will be built and staffed to provide ongoing care and to act as centers for health education, training and research.
Mangrove mazes and jungles, social disenfranchisement, poor education, poverty and lack of infrastructure separate our communities from care. The Bocas province boasts the largest percentage of indigenous in Panama, but also has the highest infant and child mortality rate, birth rate, and second highest neonatal mortality rate. Our patients are from communities that have no voice and no one to speak for them. Our medical care will affect more than 80,000 in poverty and without access to care.
What sets Floating Doctors apart is our commitment to providing ongoing care to the communities we serve; we regularly visit more than 30 communities in Panama and maintain detailed records of their health and treatment. We provide general medical and minor surgical services, portable ultrasounds and labs. By focusing on preventive care and children's maternal health and incorporating education, we create sustainable improvements in individual and community health.
Providing care for over 10,000 patients and staffing 3 medical outposts will greatly improve the immediate access to care for over 80,000 Ngabe in the region. Faster emergency response, better baseline individual and community health as well as improved health knowledge in 30 key communities will all combine to reduce the burden of disease and accident in the future.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
