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Campaign To Help Haitian Dentists Getting Results

At the the Adopt-a-Practice for Haiti program area in Orlando, Sally Hewett, of the ADA Committee on International Programs, left, and Nancy Kelly, Executive Director of Volunteers Overseas. (Photo: Jan Agostaro)
Javier M. de Pisón / Editor-in-Chief, Dental Tribune Latin America

Javier M. de Pisón / Editor-in-Chief, Dental Tribune Latin America

dom. 10 octubre 2010

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ORLANDO, Florida, USA – The American Dental Association’s campaign to rebuild dental practices in Haiti is in full swing here at the 2010 Annual Session, which runs October 8-11. In just a few months the "Adopt-a-Practice" campaign has collected over $62,000 to help Haitian colleagues who lost their practices in the January 12th earthquake. It aims to collect a total of $300.000 to rebuild 30 dental offices in Haiti.

A clear sign of ADA's commitment to humanitarian aid is that the association designated a special exhibit area to honor volunteer efforts during the 2010 Annual Session and World Marketplace Exhibition, featuring the Adopt-a-Practice: Rebuilding Dental Offices in Haiti and Give Kids A Smile programs.

Sponsored in part by SS White, the “Volunteer Celebration Area” on the ADA exhibition floor was a focal point for dental professionals wanting to learn how to make a difference and a source of information for national and international access-to-care volunteer opportunities.

The campaign to help Haitian dentists began when Dental Tribune Hispanic and Latin America brought the president of the Haiti Dental Society, Dr. Samuel Prophete, to ADA headquarters in Chicago at the time of the 2010 Chicago Midwinter Meeting to discuss strategies to repair Haiti's devastated health practices, initiating the Help Haiti campaign.

About 30 dental practices in Port-au-Prince—nearly a third of the city’s dental offices—were damaged or destroyed. It's estimated that approximately $10,000 can help rebuild each practice.

Your Support is Essential
The Adopt-A-Practice initiative addresses the need to restore a sustainable system for oral health delivery in Haiti. A shortage of good dental care pre-existed the earthquake in Haiti. Without help, most Haitian dentists will be unable to rebuild their practices on their own because they don’t have the protection of casualty insurance and their incomes are not comparable to those in more developed countries.

With about 350 dentists for a population of 9 million, Haiti has the lowest ratio of dentists per population in the Western hemisphere. And due to the depressed economy in Haiti, even a small contribution can make a difference.

New York University School of Dentistry and Henry Schein have already showed their support by donating chairs and sending technicians. Nancy Kelly, Executive Director of the non-profit Health Volunteers Overseas, (HVO) said that several companies have said they will match donations.

To donate to Adopt-a-Practice: Rebuilding Dental Offices in Haiti, please contact the Health Volunteers Overseas at www.hvousa.org or call HVO at 1-202-296-0928. For more informacion you can contact the ADA Division of Global Affairs at international@ada.org.

 

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