U.S. Medical Trash Saving Lives In Africa

(CBS)  On garbage day at a New York hospital, perfectly good medical equipment is taken away to make way for newer models. But it isn't going to the dump - it's going to Africa to save lives, reports CBS News medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook.

"We're getting supplies shipped to us from Houston, from Phoenix, from California, from Wisconsin," said cardiologist Dr. Bruce Charash.

In 2005, Charash had an idea: Collect old and unused medical supplies and send them to developing countries. He founded Doc to Dock, a non-profit organization that's sent 12 tons of supplies to countries like Ghana, Ethiopia and Benin.

"Our philosophy is, as long as we're throwing it out, we might as well save lives overseas by giving them to people who need them," Charash said.

"This load right here would've ended up going into the garbage. As you see, you have some equipment here that hasn't even been opened yet. Still completely closed," said one delivery man.

It's a sealed package; but it would have been unable to be used in the United States due to hospital regulations.

One surgical kit contains everything a doctor needs to do an operation - things like gauze pads and syringes. But anything that's not used has to be thrown away, even if it's untouched and totally sterile.

The group takes almost everything, from catheters to IV lines to walkers.

Supplies were recently shipped to the Tepa District Hospital in Ghana. Before Doc to Dock stepped in, the maternity ward in the hospital had next to nothing.

"I'm the surgeon, I'm the obstetrician, and I'm the only gynecologist there," said Dr. Isaac Boateng, who has been delivering 50 to 60 babies a week. But he's never had a sonogram - until now.

"We say that you are going to save millions of people," he said.

America's medical trash is Africa's medical treasure.

[timothyone-2009]

So our mistakes are the best help we can offer?
Africa is the Palestine of the world, and like Israel regarding the Arabs, we are all waiting and watching (and helping) them suffer until the day we can have it all to ourselves to dig and drill to our hearts content. Those inconvenient black folks need to realize we will never treat them as human being and give up their dreams of benefiting fairly from their own natural resources. It all belongs to us, like Palestine belongs to Israel, and we will let it sit there undeveloped until the civil wars we create and sponsor there have freed our land of it''s
pesky, temporary inhabitants. Why else do you think the GOP, most of American business, and every right-wing preacher alive actively supported South African apartheid until too many normal people began a successful boycott of the businesses that cooperated with the apartheid white minority government?? It was later reported that The great Rev. Pat Robertson had been supporting apartheid because he owned several business, including a gold mine that greatly benefited from the slave-like wages of the slave-like black people of the country. Now join me in a verse of our National Anthem. Oh say can you see... Come on, what''s wrong, aren''t you a true patriot? Let''s sing! (Cheney could STILL be watching!!!)

[whitemale08]

Ahhh, isn''t that cute?

We''re helping out little black babies in Africa...ahhh


We can do better then that, we can end the IMF/World Bank, quit giving them worthless paper Federal Reserve Notes in exchange for their precious resources.

And stop looting their countries with worthless krap-derivatives that are defaulted-debt-contracts structured-finance by Keynesianites on Wall Street.

We can do better then just pat ourselves on the back and ''blow trumpets'' over the fact that we give Africa ''trash they can use''.

[cricketbeers]

This is a great idea. However, that being said, I think we''''d all be happier if the waste did not occur in the first place.

Hospitals should be required to change their purchasing systems to eliminate this shameful waste. Then it wouldn''''t cost us so much money for medical treatment. THEN we would be happier, and we''''d be in a better position to afford charitable contributions, too.


Excellent post!!

[goosfraba2]

... have we have become so rich [Republican] that we dont care about our own..

Posted by Gaye5 at 04:34 PM : Dec 25, 2008

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Yes.

[klingon69]

Isn''''t that sweet? I mean, a trip to the emergency room can total very quickly some 1,600 dollars and the patient is sent to collections if they can''''t pay by the first of the month the entire charge. But hey, the same hospital can just throw away equipment as if it were garbage and some doctor in Africa picks it up for a song. Sorry, as wonderful as that is for Africa, our system here stinks to high heaven.

Posted by rudy6543 at 02:53 AM : Dec 25, 2008

OMG, We agree on something

[countrywunz-2009]

THIS is why our MEDICAL bills are so high,why in the world would you all do that,you could have waited intil you have are bills lower,what you all did is gave medical items away what we all still needed and raised our bills to a level we cannot reach,a discharge from hospital is for me 300.00 and thats sad what if you had to that much,heaven sakes wake up people,,,

[gr8volunteer]

In Minnesota, The MESSAGE Program has been "recycling" unused and dontated medical, dental, emergency responder, fire fighter supplies and equipment for over 5 years and sending it to those who can use it. See more at www.themessageprogram.org - this organization has operated on VERY LITTLE Administrative overhead and a shoe string budget compared to other non-profits. Everything is donated except the cost of rail to the ports. There are even volunteers in the countries that it serves (mainly Central America.) This isn''t a new idea - as The MESSAGE Program has been around for more than 5 years- but it can change the lives of many. Please see www.themessageprogram.org - the website may not be updated recently, however they are ready to ship more containers of medical equipment this winter. A very small organization making a big impact. www.themessageprogram.org

[gaye5]

Spot on mswolfestock...

We hear that the poor in America are dying because they cant afford medical treatement and millions of dollars worth of perfectly good medical supplies were tipped into the garbage, HOW DISGUSTING... have we have become so rich that we dont care about our own..

[birdyard1]

Its no wonder it cost so *** much to go into a hospital , here they are throwing perfectly good supplies and asking us to pay for it . sounds like our government

[richnj1]

The idea of using the equipment at home may make some sense, but remember that it is being discarded because of U.S. *regulations*. They CANNOT be used here in the U.S. -- unless you want to change the regulations so that equipment that cannot be used by paying patients can be used in clinics that serve the poor (and that sets up a potential for a dangerous double-standard in health care.)

Giving the equipment away overseas is the best solution. And they are people too. A human life saved is a human life saved, regardless of what country they live in.