In remote mountain areas or jungle villages in the developing world, a neighbor who is trained to recognize and treat common preventable illnesses and administer basic health care may be the only medical service available for miles.

With health care worker shortages affecting nearly every country on earth, MAP International is working to close this gap where it is the greatest.

MAP has developed a comprehensive health training program for impoverished communities. MAP works with indigenous groups to identify community leaders and train them in MAP’s comprehensive Community Health curriculum. These health promoters help increase access to basic healthcare for treatable conditions such as diarrhea, malnutrition, respiratory infection and malaria. In turn, they become change agents within their communities working to sanitation, hygiene and access to safe water sources.

In the past two years, MAP has trained nearly 200 health promoters from 90 Ecuadorian communities, from the slums of Quito to the villages of the Amazon jungle. The training program has been certified by the Ministry of Health of Ecuador, giving these healthcare volunteers tremendous credibility in their communities.

MAP has also helped these health promoters establish small pharmacies stocked with MAP medicines. In the most remote areas, MAP provides portable medical kits for the health volunteers serving their communities.

MAP is now expanding this critical first-line level of healthcare by adding 30 new health promoters from 10 communities in Ecuador.

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