Amazon Hope Medical Programme (Vine Trust)

Overall goals

Vine Trust is an international development charity which enables volunteers to provide medical care, to communities living in severe poverty in Tanzania and Peru. We aim to empower communities; connecting enthusiastic volunteers with in-country partners and local people to create significant, sustainable development for vulnerable children and families.

Achieved: Visit by medical ships (20 expeditions per year) lasting 20 days to 5 different river basins. Visits to each community every 3 months approximately. A core team of 8 Peruvian health professionals supported by overseas medical volunteers.

Key UK Colleagues and Partners

Peru National Ministry of Health
Loreto Regional Government
Loreto Ministry of Health
Cayetano Heredia Univesity (including Mama River project) (Peru)
University of Texas Medical Branch (USA)
Institute for Collaboration in Health (USA)
Instituto de las Americas (Peru)
Around 100 overseas medical volunteers per year from a variety of countries

International Partners

Programme established in 2002. Collaboration with Loreto Region Ministry of Health began in 2014.

Sustainable development goals

• SDG 3 - Good health and well-being

Funding source

Work is funded through donations received from Vine Trust supporters. Contributions from volunteers who visit the Programme. Since 2014, gift-in-kind received from regional ministry of Health, currently covering 12 personnel, fuel for the ships and the majority of medical supplies.

Project origin

Working with local partners to delivery primary health care services to remote riverine communities along 5 basins in the Loreto region of Peru through the use of medical ships. Work run by Peruvian professionals supported by overseas medical volunteers on short-term volunteering visits

Evidence of need

Previous Vine Trust activities in the region (working with communities and street children) had highlighted the gaps that existed in health care for remote villages in the Amazon region of Peru.

Project areas

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Project activities

Since 2002, the Amazon Hope Medical Programme has delivered more than 1.5 million consultations.
An impact study conducted by Cayetano Heredia University (Lima) found the Programme to be the main healthcare provider for the communities.
More than 1300 volunteer health professionals from 19 different countries have supported the work since it was established.
2016 winner of ‘Best Practice in Public Management in the category Public-Private Cooperation’ for participation in Mama River project – which improves maternal and child health with 13 communities in the Loreto region.

Changes

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Next steps

Ongoing expansion of primary healthcare services in collaboration with regional government.
Plans to develop safe water and sanitation projects in the communities, working with local government and other NGOs.
Implementation of Electronic Medical Records system on to the ships by 2018 to help improve patient care.
Plans in place for training of community health workers to strengthen local response to minor and/or emergency health issues.

Challenges

Finding the right partners and the challenge of maintaining the ships. We have also had the challenge of engaging with regional and national government to secure funding support for the expansion of the work.

Mitigating challenges

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Partnership principles

• strategic
• harmonised
• effective
• respectful
• organised
• responsible
• flexible

Project gains

• teamwork
• clinical
• awareness
• patient
• resilience