USAID Welcomes Formation of Joint Partnership between Pennsylvania, Hungary
Health Organizations
USAID WELCOMES FORMATION OF JOINT PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN PENNSYLVANIA, HUNGARY
HEALTH ORGANIZATIONS
HARRISBURG, PA – The U.S. Agency for International Development
(USAID) welcomed the signing today of an agreement establishing a joint
Hungarian-U.S. health partnership. In comments in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
this afternoon at a ceremony marking the event, Dr. Kent R. Hill, USAID
Assistant Administrator for Europe and Eurasia, praised the creation
of the new partnership and emphasized the importance of these types
of relationship to foreign assistance and international development.
This joint program is part of a broader USAID initiative, implemented
with the American International Health Alliance (AIHA), which focuses
on establishing partnerships that establish peer-to-peer relationships
between the U.S. and European and Eurasian medical institutions. The
goal of the program is to advance global health through volunteer-driven
partnerships that mobilize communities to address healthcare priorities
more effectively while improving productivity and quality of care.
The partnership announced today, between the Hungarian Association
for Healthy Cities headquartered in Pec, Hungary, and the Harrisburg,
PA-based Institute for Healthy Communities, will place a special
emphasis on women’s reproductive health. It is one of over
50 partnerships with a focus on women’s health that USAID has
supported through AIHA in Europe and Eurasia. This Pecs-Harrisburg
project will provide assistance to the Hungarian Association for
Healthy Cities to expand their knowledge, strategies and skills necessary
to promote sustainable, decentralized community-based approaches
to meeting the wellness needs of Hungarian communities. The program
is being implemented with support from the USAID office in Budapest,
Hungary.
“Partnerships such as this one play an important role in USAID’s
assistance strategy for Europe and Eurasia – forging relationships
to identify health needs, develop strategies for meeting those needs,
and implement programs to attain their goals,” said Dr. Hill
during the ceremony. “In addition, these types of programs instill
a strong sense of local ownership and establish relationships that
endure long after USAID funding ends.”
U.S. Ambassador to Hungary Nancy Brinker was instrumental in launching
this program. Upon arriving in Hungary in 2001 she established a task
force to develop ideas for improving Hungarian health. Last year during
her visit to Hungary, First Lady Laura Bush launched the partnership
by announcing a $500,000 award for the program.
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