What is the CMMB?

The Catholic Medical Mission Board is a non-profit organization that began its work in 1912 and was officially founded in 1928. The CMMB Mission reads, “Rooted in the healing ministry of Jesus, CMMB works collaboratively to provide quality healthcare programs and services – without discrimination – to people in need around the world.” The organizations’ primary values include social justice, integrity, leadership, accountability, quality collaboration, compassion, courage and risk taking, self-reliance, sustainable development, and building individual and community capacity.

Approximately 98% of the CMMB’s funds go directly to serving those in need, which makes it an excellent non-profit with low administrative costs. The organization has three main focus areas: healthcare programs, medical supply/pharmaceutical donations, and volunteer placement programs such as the one I will be embarking on soon. In 2009, 73 long-term and 475 short-term licensed healthcare professionals served in 27 different countries through the CMMB. In addition, the Healing Help program has distributed over 1 billion dollars worth of pharmaceuticals to over 100 countries since 2005.

I was particularly drawn to this organization because of their non-discriminatory characteristics. The CMMB serves people and communities of all religious backgrounds and beliefs, and likewise accepts volunteers from any type of faith. They accept a number of different types of volunteers, including nurses, MD’s, occupational/speech/physical therapists, psychologists, pharmacists, physician assistants, and people with law, finance or public health backgrounds.

I also like the fact that the organization strives to create self-sustainable programs with long-term impacts. This is such an important piece of improving health needs globally, and it can often be lost on short-term mission trips. A large part of what I will be doing will not simply be working as a PT in a clinic, but as a person striving to solve the root of local health issues in order to create an effective solution program.

I recently attended a lecture by Richard Garfield, who is a professor at Columbia and an expert in public health and the UN data collection. He pointed out that today, we are actually making gains at reducing AIDS, malaria and maternal/infant mortality when it comes to global statistics. However, the latest trend at the forefront of mortality rates in developing nations are turning out to be due to non-communicable diseases… cardiovascular diseases, lung diseases, cancer and diabetes. The number of deaths in children under age 5 are actually decreasing, but the number of deaths in those ages 15-60 are on the rise.

This is not to say that malnutrition, HIV and other issues should not be the aims of humanitarian action. However, we are still not addressing an important piece of the solution. As a PT I’m really excited to be able to try to create a program that will target these preventable non-communicable diseases, but I also know there will be many cultural challenges. In Peru in particular, cigarette smoking is a large contributing factor, and a high amount of disability is caused by motor vehicle crashes and lack of helmet use on motorcycles. Also, interestingly, the body weight of a child is seen as a social indicator of status. A skinny child is viewed as poor, whereas a child who is overweight or obese is considered better off, so the presence of a higher body mass index is actually something that is culturally desired. These are only a handful of the potential factors that may make it difficult to attack these issues from the root of the problem.

I am grateful for the support of the CMMB and for this opportunity to serve through them with the goal of creating sustainable change. I hope that you will continue to support their mission. More information can be found at their website: www.cmmb.org