AMD3 Foundation and Operation Walk Pittsburgh: Bridging the Healthcare Gap
One of the AMD3 Foundation’s major programs is Operation Walk Pittsburgh, a yearly medical mission trip to a Latin American country with to provide hip and knee replacements to dozens of patients in need.
Five of the ten trips completed by Operation Walk Pittsburgh have occurred in the same location: Antigua, Guatemala.
Over the years, we have built a relationship with our partner hospital, Obras Sociales del Santo Hermano Pedro, and continue to find new ways to sustainably support the community there.
A question often asked around international medical mission trips relates to why they are necessary in the first place.
According to the World Health Organization, countries with fewer than 23 healthcare workers per 10,000 population will likely fail to achieve adequate coverage rates for primary healthcare, per the Millennium Development Goals. In Guatemala, there are approximately 10 physicians per 10,000.
While overall Guatemalan population health has improved over the past decades, those in poverty – particularly if they are of indigenous descent – continue to have the worst health status of the Western Hemisphere.
Operation Walk Pittsburgh patients in Antigua often fall inside the above socioeconomic demographics, placing them at a tremendous disadvantage. A typical yearly salary in Guatemala is around 100,000 Q, or about $13,000. The cost of one total joint replacement in Guatemala is about 40,000 Q, or roughly $5,000 – over a third of one’s salary for the year.
Even if patients visit a clinic in hopes of receiving a joint replacement, they will likely be placed on a lengthy waitlist. Our patients regularly tell us that they have been waiting years, sometimes decades, for an opportunity to have a surgery like this.
By taking a look at healthcare in developing countries such as Guatemala, we can understand a bit better why programs like Operation Walk are a necessary part of a much greater mission to improve public health around the world.