The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and the Ruderman Family Foundation recently launched a new $2.4 million healthcare initiative, ImpactWell, that will bring Israeli medical technologies to developing countries, beginning in Ghana. 

The initiative began as a pilot program in Ghana, which has been running for the past year. The focus is on addressing so-called “last mile” issues, getting medical care not just to the country but to the patients, particularly those who live in communities without proper infrastructure and health-care systems.

“Basic healthcare for all people is a fundamental human right. The Ruderman Foundation and JDC designed ImpactWell to advance this goal in developing countries by creating new ways of delivering lifesaving healthcare to people who have not had access, giving them both treatment and hope,” Jay Ruderman, president of the Ruderman Family Foundation, said in a statement. “It’s especially gratifying to see how many lives we can improve by leveraging Israel’s medical tech innovations and the power of Jewish philanthropy, all for global good.”

The Ruderman Family Foundation has provided $2 million of the initiative’s $2.4 million budget, a JDC spokesperson told eJewishPhilanthropy.

In order to work around “last mile” obstacles, the ImpactWell initiative has focused on creating mobile and telemedicine options in order to reach patients in rural areas. “ImpactWell’s mobile clinics and providers visit Ghanaian villages each week, bringing specialists and new medical technology tools that offer quicker testing and treatment, lowering barriers to effective care,” JDC said in a statement. “Last-mile health services also include follow-up care for post-surgery patients, post-partum mothers and pediatric care.”

For the ImpactWell program in Ghana, JDC is collaborating with local medical organizations, chiefly Gye Nyame Mobile Clinics (GNMC), Forte Medical and the country’s national tuberculosis and malaria programs. It is also working with the Israeli biotechnology companies Nanox, Minerva XR, Ewave MD, ZZapp Malaria, Nonagon, EFA and XR Health.

“Among the most urgent global humanitarian needs, access to healthcare is essential. Through our partnership with the Ruderman Family Foundation, ImpactWell harnesses new medical technologies and mobile health systems that make it possible for the most vulnerable people in far flung locations, especially mothers and children, to receive modern medical care and thrive,” Ariel Zwang, CEO of JDC, said in a statement. “Together we are building bridges of compassion and care between people in developing countries, the Jewish world, and Israel.”

The Ghana pilot program launched last year with the establishment of a training center in the capital city of Accra. JDC noted that the early childhood mortality rate in Ghana is nearly seven times higher than in the United States with 42.3 children under the age of 5 dying per 1,000 live births compared to 6.3.

In one case, a woman, Joyce Onoma, from the remote village of Ntoboroso, which is located some three hours from the nearest hospital, brought her 4-year-old son, who had a fever, a rash and was vomiting heavily, to a mobile clinic run by GNMC with support from ImactWell. 

“They gave him medicine, and now he stopped vomiting. It won’t be necessary to admit him to the hospital. It’s here they’ll take care of him,” Onoma said, according to JDC.