Who We Are // GlobeMed at University of Cincinnati

GlobeMed at the University of Cincinnati made its debut in the 2011-2012 academic year. We are one link in GlobeMed's 50 university strong network of campuses across the country. Collectively, we are striving to improve health equity throughout the world.

To that end, GlobeMed at UC is partnered with SAW, or Social Action for Women, to improve access to health care for Burmese refugees living in western Thailand. Together, we will implement the Community Health Outreach Program, or CHOP, which teaches important healthcare lessons to rural migrant communities.

Our Partner //Social Action for Women in MaeSot, Thailand

Social Action for Women (SAW) works with Burmese women and children who have fled Burma due to the recent political unrest in that country. Displaced from their homes and families, with no legal status or means of earning an income, these women and children are prone to exploitation, human trafficking, and sexual slavery. SAW combats these issues head on with basic health care and health education classes, emergency shelters, schooling for the children, and income generation projects for adults.

Our Project // $6,000 for a Community Health Outreach Program

SAW and GlobeMed at UC are collaborating on the Community Healthcare Outreach Program, or CHOP. The goal of CHOP is to venture out into the rural Phop Phra area and begin to disseminate important lessons about basic and reproductive healthcare. Ten, day-long sessions will be held in 10 different rural communities, with approximately 30 adult community members participating in each. Trained SAW employees will conduct workshops and also solicit feedback from participants about what they perceive as the most pressing issues, so as to conduct more targeted workshops in the future.

Phase II of CHOP, which has been earmarked for future collaboration, would involve returning to the same target communities and training "Peer Educators" in each location. These Peer Educators would remain in the communities as trained experts, able disseminate good health practices throughout the society and maintain contact with SAW for future collaborations.

Success Story from SAW:

A man got married to his wife recently. After they were married for some months, they wanted to prevent a pregnancy as they were not ready to have baby. Therefore, he advised his wife to take contraceptive pills so as to not get pregnant. Then, his wife went to the Pharmacy store to buy it. The worker from the pharmacy explained to her how to take it. After that she took it for several days, but started suffering from side effects, such as dizziness and vomiting. She stopped taking the contraceptive pills as she could not suffer anymore. Then, she let her husband take it instead of her. Her husband also did not know the correct way to use the contraceptive pills and took them until they were all gone. When her husband attended our training, he asked our Peer Educator about contraceptive pills and asked if men can take them or not and then he told us about his story. All of the participants laughed at him when they heard about his story. The Peer Educator explained to him the correct way to take the pills and advised him not to continue taking them, as they are not for men and it cannot prevent getting your wife pregnant. In addition, dangerous abortion cases still occur among the migrant population as they are not clear about the dangers of abortion as well as family planning. Therefore, knowing about family planning methods is very important for the migrant community to prevent from undergoing dangerous abortion.