Partners in Health: Redefining the Possibilities of Health Care

“We’re saving lives, revitalizing communities, and transforming global health.” These are the defining words of Partners In Health, an organization taking on a medical and a moral mission to provide preferential health care treatment to poor populations.

Partners In Health is a nonprofit organization comprised of a team of health professionals, scholars, and activists. The organization delivers health services, provides training, conducts research, and advocates for human rights across the world. The two central goals of the organization are to provide the benefits of modern medical science to those in need and to act as an “antidote to despair.”

Partners In Health was founded in 1987 by Jim Kim, Ophelia Dahl, Paul Farmer, Todd McCormack, and Thomas J. White to provide medical services to areas of Haiti. Partners In Health has now expanded to geographically diverse locations including Rwanda, Lesotho, Malawi, Peru, Mexico, Russia, Dominican Republic, and Navajo Nation. They also have an expanding network of affiliated organizations in several other countries.

The foremost belief held by the founders and present-day contributors of Partners In Health is that health is a human right that should be available to everyone. Co-founder Paul Farmer advocates for human rights, believing that “the idea that some lives matter less is the root of all that’s wrong with the world.” Putting this belief into practice, Partners In Health works towards a hopeful future and continues to redefine the possibilities of health care.