CURE International
Encyclopedia
CURE International is a nonprofit organization
based in Lemoyne, Pennsylvania
. CURE's efforts are focused on providing medical care to children suffering primarily from orthopedic conditions. With the mission of healing the sick and proclaiming the kingdom of God, CURE serves a dual purpose in the life of the children the organization reaches out to. The organization operates 11 hospitals in the following countries: Afghanistan
, the Dominican Republic
, Ethiopia
, Honduras
, Kenya
, Malawi
, Niger
, Uganda
, the United Arab Emirates
and Zambia
.
. Since then, CURE has seen more than 1,200,000 patients and performed more than 84,000 surgeries. Today, it is the largest provider of pediatric surgical care in the developing world.
CURE hopes to transform the lives of children with hydrocephalus
, cleft lip and palate, spine deformities, clubfoot and other crippling orthopedic conditions. They desire to provide surgeries, and to change lives, families, communities and cultures. CURE helps children who have no hope for the future because of their physical disability and help these children escape stereotypes in their villages and homes.
Financially, CURE reports that 93% of every dollar that comes in to CURE goes directly to pay for care for children whose families cannot afford it. 7% of the budget goes to fundraising and administrative support. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, the contributions are tax-deductible to the highest amount allowable by law. Charity Navigator
awarded CURE its highest rating eight years in a row.
: Beginning in 2004, CURE provide children with medical care in San Pedro Sula
, Honduras in the form of weekly clinics in area hospital. In 2008, a standalone hospital was built. The hospital, one of the best-equipped orthopedic surgical facilities in Honduras, has 20 beds, has seen more than 13,000 patients and performed more than 1,600 surgeries.
Dominican Republic
: The CURE Dominican Republic Hospital, established in 2003, is located in Santo Domingo
. Serving more than 700 outpatients per month, the hospital regularly sends surgical teams into
Haiti
and built a satellite clinic in Puerto Plata
. In 2010, CURE played a key role in responding to the Haiti earthquake, by sending in one of the first surgical teams into that country.
Afghanistan
: CURE accepted the invitation from Afghan Ministry of Public Health to take over a hospital located in Kabul
in January, 2005. The hospital offers care for 8,000 patients each year and training programs for doctors and nurses in obstetrics and gynecology, pathology, orthopedic surgery, plastic surgery and general practice. In the Fall of 2006, CURE partnered with Smile Train to develop a cleft lip and cleft palate surgical training program.
Ethiopia
: The CURE Ethiopia Children's Hospital, established in 2008, is a pediatric orthopedic teaching hospital in Addis Ababa. The hospital provides training in pediatric and advanced orthopedic techniques and has a dual focus on pediatric orthopedics and pediatric plastic reconstruction, such as cleft lip, clubfoot, limb deformities, etc.
Kenya
: The first CURE hospital opened in 1998 in Kijabe
. The AIC-CURE International Children's Hospital is a 30 bed hospital that serves approximately 8,000 children per year, also operating mobile clinics to remote regions. The orthopedic training program has been certified by the College of Surgeons of East, Central and Southern Africa, where surgeons will spend five years training at the hospital and then work at another CURE hospital for an additional amount of time. CURE clubfoot, a non-surgical treatment for the correction of clubfoot in young children, is hosted in this hospital.
Malawi
: Established in 2002, the Beit CURE International Hospital in Blantyre
has 66 beds and has expertise in total hip and knee replacement surgery. The hospital also provides physiotherapy and chiropractic services, offers orthopedic training, mobile clinics and a partnership with Smile Train.
Niger
: The newest CURE hospital opened in Niamey
in the summer of 2010, offering specialty surgical care and training programs for doctors and nurses.
Uganda
: Specializing in treating neurosurgical needs, the CURE Children's Hospital of Uganda
opened in 2000 and has been recognized as a global leader in treatment of hydrocephalus. The hospital, located in Mbale
, also treats children with neural tube defects, spina bifida, epilepsy and brain tumors. The training program brings in surgeons from many countries, including Bangladesh, the U.S. and Ghana.
United Arab Emirates
: The CURE Oasis Hospital, located in Al Ain
, was established in 1960 to bring American medical care to the UAE. The hospital delivers 3,500 babies and treats over 122,000 patients annually. CURE acquired the hospital in 2006.
Zambia
: The Beit CURE International Hospital of Zambia was established in 2004 when CURE signed an agreement with the Zambian Ministry of Health to operate a pediatric teaching hospital, specializing in treatment and care of children living with disabilities. The Beit Trust, a UK-based charity, donated $1.5 million to support construction of the hospital as a centennial gift to the people of Zambia. The hospital partners with Smile Train and has a hip replacement program.
for $250. CURE Clubfoot's goal is to eradicate clubfoot in the developing world, with over 220,000 children born each year with the deformity. By partnerships with other international NGO's, the donor community and in-country partners, CURE has treated 19,000 children in 16 countries with 141 clinics.
Dance 4 Kids Who Can't: CURE partners with college campuses or high schools to host dances with the purpose of raising funds to help kids run, walk, play and dance for the first time.
CURE Hydrocephalus: The program provides surgeons the training and equipment to combat the condition. Surgeons are trained in multiple forms of hydrocephalus
treatment, including a “shuntless” procedure known as an EVT
/ CPC
, where they identify the blockage in the brain and create a new path through which the accumulating fluid can drain naturally. Lasting as short as 45 minutes, CURE claims the results of this surgery are permanent and often much more stable than implanting a shunt. On August 2, 2011, three representatives of CURE Hydrocephalus testified in front of the U. S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights. Dr. Benjamin Warf, former medical director of CURE Uganda, Dr. Steven Schiff, who conducted research at CURE Uganda, and Jim Cohick, Senior Vice President of Specialty Programs at CURE International, spoke on the issue. The speakers came with the intention of informing Congress of this potentially fatal condition that affects a large part of the developing world, as well as how CURE intends to address the issue. From this experience, CURE wants to continue to encourage government involvement in the CURE Hydrocephalus program.
Nonprofit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
based in Lemoyne, Pennsylvania
Lemoyne, Pennsylvania
Lemoyne is a borough in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. Lemoyne was incorporated as a borough on May 23, 1905. As of the 2000 census, the borough population was 3,995. It was formerly named Bridgeport. Lemoyne lies across the Susquehanna River from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania's capital...
. CURE's efforts are focused on providing medical care to children suffering primarily from orthopedic conditions. With the mission of healing the sick and proclaiming the kingdom of God, CURE serves a dual purpose in the life of the children the organization reaches out to. The organization operates 11 hospitals in the following countries: Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
, Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
, Honduras
Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
, Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, Malawi
Malawi
The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique on the east, south and west. The country is separated from Tanzania and Mozambique by Lake Malawi. Its size...
, Niger
Niger
Niger , officially named the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east...
, Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
, the United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...
and Zambia
Zambia
Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
.
History
The organization was founded in 1996 by Dr. Scott Harrison and his wife, Sally. Ten years earlier, Dr. Harrison traveled to Malawi, Africa to perform spine surgery and teach higher level orthopedic surgery skills to local surgeons. In the years following, Dr. Harrison and his wife made many trips back, discovering a need for children with orthopedic disabilities. When his tenure as CEO and President of Kirschner Medical was over, Dr. Harrison created CURE, hoping to meet that need. CURE's first hospital opened in 1998 in KenyaKenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
. Since then, CURE has seen more than 1,200,000 patients and performed more than 84,000 surgeries. Today, it is the largest provider of pediatric surgical care in the developing world.
What CURE does
With a motto of "healing changes everything," CURE prioritizes the locations of the hospitals where the greatest medical and spiritual needs are found. The organization recognizes the importance of training nationals in the most modern healthcare techniques to ensure quality and access to medical care for future betterment of each country. In order to ensure long-term sustainability of each hospital, CURE develops a diverse funding base that includes local and foreign support, government assistance, partnerships, collaborative efforts with like partners, and innovative, entrepreneurial-related supporting organizations. CURE does not deny medical attention to a patient unable to pay, practicing CURE's dedication to incorporating a faith component in the healing process. The organization's goal is to serve the poorest of the poor that have no access to specialty care.CURE hopes to transform the lives of children with hydrocephalus
Hydrocephalus
Hydrocephalus , also known as "water in the brain," is a medical condition in which there is an abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid in the ventricles, or cavities, of the brain. This may cause increased intracranial pressure inside the skull and progressive enlargement of the head,...
, cleft lip and palate, spine deformities, clubfoot and other crippling orthopedic conditions. They desire to provide surgeries, and to change lives, families, communities and cultures. CURE helps children who have no hope for the future because of their physical disability and help these children escape stereotypes in their villages and homes.
Financially, CURE reports that 93% of every dollar that comes in to CURE goes directly to pay for care for children whose families cannot afford it. 7% of the budget goes to fundraising and administrative support. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, the contributions are tax-deductible to the highest amount allowable by law. Charity Navigator
Charity Navigator
Charity Navigator is an independent, non-profit organization that evaluates American charities. Its stated goal is "to advance a more efficient and responsive philanthropic marketplace by evaluating the financial health of America's largest charities."-About:...
awarded CURE its highest rating eight years in a row.
Hospitals
HondurasHonduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
: Beginning in 2004, CURE provide children with medical care in San Pedro Sula
San Pedro Sula
San Pedro Sula is a city in Honduras. It is located in the northwest corner of the country, in the Valle de Sula , about 60 km south of Puerto Cortés on the Caribbean. With an estimated population of 638,259 people in the main municipality, and 802,598 in its metro area , it is the second...
, Honduras in the form of weekly clinics in area hospital. In 2008, a standalone hospital was built. The hospital, one of the best-equipped orthopedic surgical facilities in Honduras, has 20 beds, has seen more than 13,000 patients and performed more than 1,600 surgeries.
Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
: The CURE Dominican Republic Hospital, established in 2003, is located in Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo, known officially as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city in the Dominican Republic. Its metropolitan population was 2,084,852 in 2003, and estimated at 3,294,385 in 2010. The city is located on the Caribbean Sea, at the mouth of the Ozama River...
. Serving more than 700 outpatients per month, the hospital regularly sends surgical teams into
Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
and built a satellite clinic in Puerto Plata
Puerto Plata
Puerto Plata is one of the northern provinces of the Dominican Republic. The area has become an increasingly popular tourist attraction since the late 1990s mainly due to its fine beaches...
. In 2010, CURE played a key role in responding to the Haiti earthquake, by sending in one of the first surgical teams into that country.
Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
: CURE accepted the invitation from Afghan Ministry of Public Health to take over a hospital located in Kabul
Kabul
Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...
in January, 2005. The hospital offers care for 8,000 patients each year and training programs for doctors and nurses in obstetrics and gynecology, pathology, orthopedic surgery, plastic surgery and general practice. In the Fall of 2006, CURE partnered with Smile Train to develop a cleft lip and cleft palate surgical training program.
Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
: The CURE Ethiopia Children's Hospital, established in 2008, is a pediatric orthopedic teaching hospital in Addis Ababa. The hospital provides training in pediatric and advanced orthopedic techniques and has a dual focus on pediatric orthopedics and pediatric plastic reconstruction, such as cleft lip, clubfoot, limb deformities, etc.
Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
: The first CURE hospital opened in 1998 in Kijabe
Kijabe
Kijabe is a town in Kenya. Its name is Maasai for "Place of the Wind". It stands on the edge of the Great Rift Valley at an altitude of 2200m, some 50 kilometres north-west of Nairobi. Kijabe is located in the Lari division of Kiambu District. Kijabe has a population 17,334 . Kijabe has a railway...
. The AIC-CURE International Children's Hospital is a 30 bed hospital that serves approximately 8,000 children per year, also operating mobile clinics to remote regions. The orthopedic training program has been certified by the College of Surgeons of East, Central and Southern Africa, where surgeons will spend five years training at the hospital and then work at another CURE hospital for an additional amount of time. CURE clubfoot, a non-surgical treatment for the correction of clubfoot in young children, is hosted in this hospital.
Malawi
Malawi
The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique on the east, south and west. The country is separated from Tanzania and Mozambique by Lake Malawi. Its size...
: Established in 2002, the Beit CURE International Hospital in Blantyre
Blantyre
The name Blantyre may refer to several things:Malawi*Blantyre District — Blantyre, a district of Malawi**Blantyre, Malawi — Blantyre, a city of Malawi...
has 66 beds and has expertise in total hip and knee replacement surgery. The hospital also provides physiotherapy and chiropractic services, offers orthopedic training, mobile clinics and a partnership with Smile Train.
Niger
Niger
Niger , officially named the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east...
: The newest CURE hospital opened in Niamey
Niamey
-Population:While Niamey's population has grown steadily since independence, the droughts of the early 1970s and 1980s, along with the economic crisis of the early 1980s, have propelled an exodus of rural inhabitants to Niger's largest city...
in the summer of 2010, offering specialty surgical care and training programs for doctors and nurses.
Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
: Specializing in treating neurosurgical needs, the CURE Children's Hospital of Uganda
CURE Children's Hospital of Uganda
CURE Children's Hospital of Uganda is a specialized children's neurosurgery hospital in Uganda. It is a private hospital, owned and operated by CURE International. The hospital is also a teaching center in pediatric neurosurgery for Sub-Saharan Africa....
opened in 2000 and has been recognized as a global leader in treatment of hydrocephalus. The hospital, located in Mbale
Mbale
Mbale is a city in Eastern Uganda. It is the main municiplal, administrative and commercial center of Mbale District and the surrounding sub-region. The district is named after the town.-Location:...
, also treats children with neural tube defects, spina bifida, epilepsy and brain tumors. The training program brings in surgeons from many countries, including Bangladesh, the U.S. and Ghana.
United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...
: The CURE Oasis Hospital, located in Al Ain
Al Ain
Al Ain |Spring]]), also known as the Garden City due to its greenery, is the second largest city in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the fourth largest city in the United Arab Emirates. With a population of 374,000 , it is located approximately 160 km east of the capital Abu Dhabi and about...
, was established in 1960 to bring American medical care to the UAE. The hospital delivers 3,500 babies and treats over 122,000 patients annually. CURE acquired the hospital in 2006.
Zambia
Zambia
Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
: The Beit CURE International Hospital of Zambia was established in 2004 when CURE signed an agreement with the Zambian Ministry of Health to operate a pediatric teaching hospital, specializing in treatment and care of children living with disabilities. The Beit Trust, a UK-based charity, donated $1.5 million to support construction of the hospital as a centennial gift to the people of Zambia. The hospital partners with Smile Train and has a hip replacement program.
Specialty Programs
CURE Clubfoot: Clubfoot, a congenital deformity making walking difficult or impossible, can be corrected, using the surgery-free Ponseti MethodPonseti Method
The Ponseti method is a manipulative technique that corrects congenital clubfoot without invasive surgery. It was developed by Dr. Ignacio V. Ponseti of the University of Iowa, USA in the 1950s, and was repopularized in 2000 by Dr. John Herzenberg in the USA and Europe and in Africa by NHS surgeon...
for $250. CURE Clubfoot's goal is to eradicate clubfoot in the developing world, with over 220,000 children born each year with the deformity. By partnerships with other international NGO's, the donor community and in-country partners, CURE has treated 19,000 children in 16 countries with 141 clinics.
Dance 4 Kids Who Can't: CURE partners with college campuses or high schools to host dances with the purpose of raising funds to help kids run, walk, play and dance for the first time.
CURE Hydrocephalus: The program provides surgeons the training and equipment to combat the condition. Surgeons are trained in multiple forms of hydrocephalus
Hydrocephalus
Hydrocephalus , also known as "water in the brain," is a medical condition in which there is an abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid in the ventricles, or cavities, of the brain. This may cause increased intracranial pressure inside the skull and progressive enlargement of the head,...
treatment, including a “shuntless” procedure known as an EVT
EVT
EVT is a three letter acronym for:*Engineering validation test, the first in a sequence of new-product development stages*Equiviscous temperature, the temperature at which bitumen attains the proper viscosity for application....
/ CPC
CPC
- Organizations :* Confirmation Preperation Class* California Preparatory College* Canadian Parachute Centre* Canadian Paralympic Committee* Center for Plant Conservation* Children's Psychiatric Center, Monmouth County, NJ USA* Climate Prediction Center...
, where they identify the blockage in the brain and create a new path through which the accumulating fluid can drain naturally. Lasting as short as 45 minutes, CURE claims the results of this surgery are permanent and often much more stable than implanting a shunt. On August 2, 2011, three representatives of CURE Hydrocephalus testified in front of the U. S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights. Dr. Benjamin Warf, former medical director of CURE Uganda, Dr. Steven Schiff, who conducted research at CURE Uganda, and Jim Cohick, Senior Vice President of Specialty Programs at CURE International, spoke on the issue. The speakers came with the intention of informing Congress of this potentially fatal condition that affects a large part of the developing world, as well as how CURE intends to address the issue. From this experience, CURE wants to continue to encourage government involvement in the CURE Hydrocephalus program.
External links
- Cure International official site
- New hospital offers hope for disabled children of Ethiopia Christian Telegraph
- U.S. PVO Registry United States private voluntary organizations entry
- Bringing Hope and Healing to Disabled Children Synergos
- CURE Partners with Tim Tebow PR Newswire
- Oasis Hospital in UAE Oasis Hospital