By Kaitlyn Nuebel

Healthcare workers at the Center of Charity and Hope in the Dominican Republic province of San Pedro de Macoris said they were filled with “immense joy” when they received Brother’s Brother Foundation’s donation of pharmaceuticals used to treat patients with HIV. The center houses 150 pregnant women diagnosed with HIV and used the medication to prevent the virus from spreading further in their patients. Several studies have shown that women with HIV face a mortality rate eight times higher during pregnancy and postpartum. In a country that has a high maternal mortality rate to begin with, women with HIV face an uncertain future.

BBF shipped a container of medical supplies and pharmaceuticals to Hospital El Buen Samaritano (HBS), a non-profit fully functioning hospital that mainly serves Haitian immigrants living in poverty in the Dominican Republic’s batey communities. Offering medical services in cardiology, physiotherapy, gynecology, internal medicine, neurosurgery, pediatrics, and radiology, HBS has been able to provide an overlooked population with the health services and medications needed to treat AIDS, Tuberculosis, dehydration, malnutrition, parasites and administer prenatal care.

HBS dispersed the 26 pallets of donated medical supplies to six health centers and hospitals throughout the Dominican Republic, including the women sheltered at the Center of Charity and Hope. In addition to the 150 women housed at the center, thousands of children and adults were also impacted by BBF’s donation. Healthcare workers prescribed antibiotics to treat respiratory and throat infections while hand sanitizer and incontinence briefs replenished the dwindling supply of basic necessities in hospitals.