ICEHA in the News

ICEHA VOLUNTEER RECOGNIZED FOR LIFE SAVING WORK IN CAMBODIA

June 28, 2005 - Last night, Dr. Richard Kauffman, resident of Atlanta, received a Service Award for Professional Excellence from the Rotary Club of the Southeast Region for his volunteer service in Cambodia.

As a volunteer with The International Center for Equal Healthcare Access (ICEHA), Dr. Kauffman spent three months last year mentoring HIV physicians in a rural hospital in Cambodia. Through practical bedside training, Dr. Kauffman was able to dramatically improve the quality of healthcare provided to Cambodian HIV-infected patients. As a result of his efforts, Cambodian physicians obtained critical training and developed the expertise to treat their own HIV-infected patients and transmit HIV prevention messages to both patients and the community.

"Dr. Kauffman's contribution will have a lasting impact on AIDS care in Cambodia," said Dr. Marie Charles, Founder and President of ICEHA. "While in Cambodia, Dr. Kauffman trained 6 physicians and gave them the confidence to provide adequate HIV care. Since every trained local physician can treat over 250 AIDS patients, Dr. Kauffman increased the capacity for AIDS care for 1,500 patients! This is a phenomenal contribution that shows how even one person can have a huge impact on the global AIDS pandemic."

ICEHA, a non profit organization that engages Western trained healthcare professionals to volunteer to transfer their expertise on HIV care and infectious diseases to clinics in developing countries, has been working in Cambodia since September 2004 in close collaboration with the Cambodian government.

"This was the most awesome experience of my life," said Dr. Kauffman. "By joining ICEHA and training Cambodian physicians, I was able to see the positive impact my work had on HIV patients. It was an amazingly rewarding experience. I finally understand that the HIV epidemic can never be contained unless all of us contribute. If we all do contribute, we really can make a dent into the epidemic."

The Service Award for Professional Excellence is intended to recognize exceptional community representatives.

Dr. Kauffman is the owner of Vinings Family Healthcare in Atlanta. He has previously participated on medical missions to Ecuador and Honduras. Dr. Kauffman continues to work with ICEHA to increase the number of physician volunteers participating in ICEHA's programs worldwide. As the recipient of this award he is now in the running for the National Service Award which will be selected next week at the Rotary Club's annual convention in Chicago.