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Health Partners International Canada's mission is to improve access to healthcare and medicine in vulnerable communities worldwide.
President Lois Brown has been in her role for the last two years and is excited to see HPIC's work and what is to come in the future. "I first volunteered to fill in after the previous president had another opportunity that she accepted. The board then said, 'We like what you're doing, why don't you stick around?' So I'm here. I love the business model of Health Partners."
Previously, Brown had spent time in Ottawa after being elected Parliament Secretary for International Development. "I had the opportunity to meet with many of the NGO's (Non-governmental organizations) that were working overseas. Not all of them receive money from the government of Canada, and Health Partners doesn't but it was a really great business model. I have always believed that sustainable development is always going to need the private sector behind it. So, here was a business model where an NGO was working with the Canadian pharmaceutical industry to see essential medicines in developing countries."
Now with HPIC, Brown says she "wants to make a difference. The medicines are donated from the manufacturers to Health Partners. We are the only organization with a drug establishment license from Health Canada to procure, store, ship, and mobilize medicines. We're unique in the not-for-profit world because we are the only ones to whom the pharmaceutical companies can donate these medicines."
Brown says, "When the medicines reach the end user when they are provided to the people in vulnerable communities, they have access to medicines that you and I would have access to here in Canada.
Knowing the weight behind Health Partners' work, Brown says, "As a person of faith, I believe that we're offering people the opportunity to have good health. And I say, 'We'll save them for today so that the people that have feet on the ground overseas can save them for eternity.' If that isn't my perspective, then nothing else matters."
While HPIC doesn't have feet on the ground overseas, Brown says, "We are a small contingent and have 15 people on staff, we have a very small office in Montreal, and an office in Oakville, Ont. We work with partnerships all over the world. We work with Hope and Healing, Hope International, Food Hungry, Food For The Poor, Salvation Army, and Samaritans Purse. All of these are organizations that have established offices overseas. We receive a needs list from those organizations and go to our pharmaceutical partners to try and fulfill that needs list."
Coming off a record year last year which saw just over $50 million of medicines, Brown says, "It's phenomenal generosity on the part of the Canadian pharmaceutical industry."
While HPIC is disaster-driven, Brown says, "We are constantly monitoring what's going on. We are continually monitoring situations that are happening around the world. Firstly, seeing if we can respond. It's an incredible opportunity to have an impact on parts of the world where I will never meet those people, but hopefully someone else will make the impact for eternity."
There are two ways that HPIC responds to emergencies. Brown says, "One is through bulk shipments of medicines that have been donated from the pharmaceutical industry. Many of those have gone into Ukraine the last two years. We also have humanitarian medical kits. These are two boxes of medicines that are designed as a pharmacy in a box. They can be carried by anyone going on a medical mission into a remote community or an emergency."
Inside each kit, Brown says, "There are anti-biotics and all the things that would be essential medicines and are not on the shelf when an emergency happens." Medical kits have been shipped worldwide to other places such as Hati as well.
You can listen to the full conversation below.