Project HOPE (Health Opportunities for People Everywhere) will
team up with Chinese health authorities to build a national
training center for China's public health and disease control
professionals.
The center will offer courses and distance learning to thousands
of public health workers.
John Howe, the president and CEO of Project HOPE, an
international health education and humanitarian assistance
organization with operations in China since 1983, said the
experience HOPE has gained from its worldwide health education
programs would be useful to China.
The goal of Project HOPE in China is to enable people in both
rural and urban areas to benefit from health education and medical
services, according to Howe.
Howe and the members of HOPE's Board of Directors discussed the
training center project this weekend in Beijing with Ministry of
Health (MOH) and Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) leaders, including Vice Minister of Health Wang Longde.
The training center is expected to function next year as a part
of the CDC.
Health education among the Chinese general public, especially in
the rural areas, is backward; increasing the number of trained
health workers would give it the urgent boost it needs, said Mao
Qun'an, an MOH spokesperson.
Founded in 1958, Project HOPE is dedicated to providing lasting
solutions to health problems. Its mission is to train professionals
to provide people with the tools to help themselves.
HOPE has carried out many national health education programs in
China relating to a range of diseases and conditions including
diabetes and heart disease, and cooperated with nearly 300,000
doctors throughout the Chinese mainland.
Howe said that the Chinese are very caring people, and he feels
good that HOPE's work can make a difference in their lives.
(China Daily April 3, 2006)