In 1999, the China Foundation raised a total of $2,100,000 as matching funds to activate the World Bank's loan to the China for providing health care and building Health Centers in the poorest regions and counties in China. On behalf of the Chinese villagers and the China Foundation, we gratefully acknowledge the generous contributions of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Charles B. Wang Foundation for their significant contributions in China. The first $1,100,000 grant was distributed to 55 poor townships in Gansu, Shanxi and Qinghai to implement Phase I of the World Bank's Health project in China. The Phase I project of 55 Health Centers have been completed and functioning very well.

By December of 2001, the grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Charles B. Wang Foundation and the matching funds from the World Bank have supported 111 townships in Gansu, Shanxi, Henan, Guizhou, and Qinghai Provinces to build Health Centers. The grant from the Gates Foundation/World Bank supported 23 townships in Gansu, 44 in Shanxi, 7 in Henan, 11 in Guizhou, and 23 in Qinghai. The Wang Foundation/World Bank funds supported 3 pilot township clinics in Gansu. The phase II of the project has been completed. More than 5 million children and villagers benefit from the project and receive medical services from the Health Centers built. The Charles B. Wang Foundation awarded $250,000 as matching funds to build nine Health Centers in the HIV/AIDS epidemic counties of Henan Province. These Health Centers will be completed at the end of 2004. A total of 120 Health Centers will be completed and functioning to provide urgently needed health care in the poorest villages in China.

The progress report in August of 2002 made it very clear that our project has accomplished its objectives and reach its goals successfully and achieved great contribution and benefits to the local people who are in desperate need for health care:

• Increasing the capacity of health service provision at township levels, well-equipped Delivery rooms, surgical operation facility and X-ray machines are available at all Health Centers.
• Increasing the utilization of health services, pregnant women now prefer to deliver their babies at the new Health Centers with heating and air-conditioning systems. Newborn babies receive hepatitis B immunizations at birth at the Health Centers. Tuberculosis patients, children and adults, receive treatments under direct supervision of doctors at the Health Centers.
• Improving poor population's accessibility to the health services: free delivery services and hepatitis B immunizations, treatments and drugs for tuberculosis have been provided with no charge to pregnant women, newborn babies, children and patients in the villages.

• Healthcare Project VIII Progress Reports:
  • A Report made in August, 2002
  • A List of Beneficiary Townships by December, 2001
    (This Excel file can be viewed in Internet Explorer.)
• Project Locations
• Result Pictures
  

  Made a Difference: Present and Before The Central Hospital of Shawuan Township in Tang Chang County, Gansu Province (More Result Pictures)

Richard N. Hirsh, M.D., FACR, Vice President for Health Programs of the China Foundation, donated two mammography machines to the First Hospital of Peking University and Tong Xian Women's and Children's Hospital in 2001. Dr. Hirsh followed up and revisited Beijing and lectured at the Medical School in Jinan in 2004. Dr. Hirsh provided in-depth technical and interpretive trainings to the hospital physicians, nurses and technicians, while his donated mammography machines were installed during his past missions to China.

Organized and planned by Dr. Hirsh, the Radiology Mammography International (based in Akron, Ohio) will present an academic "Interdisciplinary" Conference on Breast Cancer to Chinese physicians and surgeons on October 14 - 17, 2006. The conference will take place in Beijing.

• Result Pictures
  

  Fighting Breast Cancer Teaching Mammogram Techniques

• More result pictures can be seen at radiologymammography.org web site.