ECG Device Donations Enable Effective Cardiac Health Monitoring throughout Haiti
PHILADELPHIA – January 26, 2015 –– ERT, a leading global solution provider for high-quality patient safety and efficacy endpoint data collection, today announced a continuation of its ongoing outreach program in which ERT provides equipment, financial support, and other resources to support quality healthcare delivery throughout the world.
Since 2013, ERT has donated dozens of electro-cardiogram (ECG) devices to Partners In Health (PIH), a non-governmental organization working alongside its Haitian sister organization, Zanmi Lasante, to provide health care throughout Haiti’s Central Plateau and lower Artibonite Valley. Donations have also been made to GHESKIO, a Haitian non-governmental organization and the largest provider of HIV and tuberculosis treatment in the Caribbean. The devices are used to provide quality healthcare in PIH and GHESKIO clinics throughout the resource-poor settings of Haiti.
“One particular way in which the ECG devices are being used is to diagnose and treat cardiac conduction disturbances, which can be caused by medications for the treatment of multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB),” said Serena Koenig, MD, MPH, Associate Physician in the Division of Global Health Equity and the Division of Infectious Diseases at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, who has been working in Haiti to treat HIV and TB for over a decade. “Two new drugs for the treatment of MDR-TB have recently been developed and are available for compassionate use for some cases of MDR-TB treatment in Haiti and other resource-poor settings. However, these new drugs also can cause changes to the electrical activity in the heart, which is why access to ECG devices is critical during treatment. We are extremely grateful to ERT for their generous donations.”
“MDR-TB is much more difficult and expensive to treat than drug-susceptible disease, with cure rates of only 50% worldwide,” Koenig continued. “GHESKIO and PIH – the only two MDR-TB treatment centers in Haiti -- have among the best reported outcomes for MDR-TB in the world, with cure rates of over 80%.”
“It’s important that physicians throughout Haiti and other low-resource areas have the tools they need to deliver quality care,” said Jim Corrigan, President and CEO, ERT. “We are honored to support the great work that PIH and GHESKIO are doing to bring the benefits of modern medical science to those most in need.”
For more information on ERT’s comprehensive suite of cardiac safety solutions, visit https://www.ert.com/cardiac.
About ERT
ERT (www.ert.com) is a leading provider of high-quality patient safety and efficacy endpoint data collection solutions for use in clinical drug development. ERT delivers a combination of technology, services, and consulting that increase the accuracy and reliability of patient data and improve the efficiency of the clinical development process throughout the product lifecycle. ERT delivers the most widely deployed solutions in centralized cardiac safety, respiratory services, suicide risk assessment and Clinical Outcome Assessments (COAs) – which includes patient, clinician, and observer reported outcomes. By efficiently integrating these solutions through a system built upon a scientific and regulatory foundation, ERT collects, analyzes, and delivers safety and efficacy data critical to the approval, labeling, and reimbursement of pharmaceutical products. ERT is a global organization with headquarters in Philadelphia, PA and offices throughout the U.S., U.K., Japan, and Germany.
About Partners In Health (PIH)
Partners In Health (www.PIH.org) is a global health organization relentlessly committed to improving the health of the poor and marginalized in ten countries. PIH builds local capacity and works closely with impoverished communities to deliver high-quality health care, address the root causes of illness, train providers, advance research, and advocate for global policy change. Drawing on the resources of the world’s leading medical and academic institutions and on the lived experience of the world’s poorest and sickest communities, PIH’s mission is both medical and moral, and based on solidarity, rather than charity alone.
About GHESKIO
The mission of GHESKIO, the Haitian Group for the Study of Kaposi’s Sarcoma and Opportunistic Infections (www.gheskio.org) is three-fold, including clinical service, research, and training in HIV/AIDS and related diseases. GHESKIO is a Haitian non-governmental organization that has been working closely with the Haitian Ministry of Health for over 30 years. GHESKIO is the largest provider of HIV and tuberculosis care in the Caribbean, providing integrated primary care services, including HIV counseling, AIDS care, prenatal care, management of tuberculosis and sexually transmitted infections, and nutritional and economic support. Through the conduct of operational and clinical research, GHESKIO defines HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention models for Haiti, and other resource-poor settings worldwide. Through training, GHESKIO expands these models to the national level.
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