Rachel Vreeman, MD, MS, with the leadership of the Rafiki Centre of Excellence in Adolescent Health in Eldoret, Kenya.
Today, I’m writing with a heavy heart. Several of you have encouraged me to share directly about how current events are impacting our global health work, and I want to explain what that looks like.
Who I Am and What I Do
While it is my privilege to lead the Department of Global Health at Mount Sinai, I’m also a pediatrician specializing in global HIV care. I’ve spent the last 20 years working to improve care for children living with HIV.
- I’ve had the difficult job of delivering the news to countless families that their children have HIV, and I’ve witnessed too many lives lost.
- Most of my work has centered in the AMPATH Kenya partnership, where Mount Sinai partners with a Kenyan medical school and hospital system and the Kenya Ministry of Health.
- Together, we built an HIV care system that serves over 200,000 people at 300 clinics across Kenya.
- This system was initially made possible through USAID funding.
Dr. Vreeman on the pediatric ward of Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret, Kenya, in 2004.
The Miracles We’ve Seen
Until January, this system allowed us to witness miracles every day. When I first started, I saw mostly babies in HIV clinics because children with HIV typically didn’t survive past age 3 or 4 without treatment.
- Today, our clinics are full of adolescents and young adults who have grown up with HIV treatment.
- These young people are now heading to college, starting careers, and building families of their own.
One of the girls I’ve cared for over 20 years is now a nurse in our largest HIV clinic. I could share thousands of success stories like these, all of which bring me immense joy and pride.
The Impact of the USAID Funding Freeze
However, since January, everything changed.
- The freeze on USAID funding has shut down most of the health care system.
- We cannot continue to give life-saving medication.
- My WhatsApp is flooded with messages from young adults in Kenya who are now asking, “How will we have a future without our medications? Where is our hope?”
These messages break my heart, and I’m struggling to provide answers.
The Urgent Need
We’ve been working closely with the Kenyan government to find ways to sustain care, but having this system dismantled overnight is a nightmare.
- We estimate there is a $5 million gap to sustain the most critical health care services over the next year.
How You Can Help
I know this is a lot to ask, but if you are able to contribute anything at all to our emergency fund, it would mean the world to me – and to the thousands of lives we are trying to save.
- Donations can be made through the emergency fund set up at the Arnhold Institute for Global Health at Mount Sinai here.
Thank you so much for considering this urgent request. Your support can make a tremendous difference.
Rachel Vreeman, MD, MS, is a pediatrician, Chair of the Department of Global Health, and Director of the Arnhold Institute for Global Health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
