By Richard Bocklet
Every day, U.S. hospitals and clinics discard more than 70,000 tons of medical supplies—most of which is reusable—reaching a value of over $20 billion annually.
At the same time, in developing nations thousands of patients are denied treatment at medical facilities due to a lack of supplies.
Bruce Charash, M.D., started thinking about this cycle of waste and improving developing world health conditions during the 2005 Clinton Global Initiative conference.
Local initiative with global goals
In early 2007, Charash rented a warehouse in Brooklyn , N.Y., contacted area hospitals, and launched Doc to Dock. The nonprofit collects and ships surplus medical supplies from American hospitals to desperately needy medical facilities in Africa.
Every week, Doc to Dock vans collect disposable supplies and equipment donations from area hospitals in the New York City area. Then volunteers help staff sort through the material for posting on the organization’s website. Through this on-line warehouse setup, recipient medical centers select and order the supplies they need.
So far, Doc to Dock has collected and delivered approximately two tons of supplies for hospitals in Ghana, Benin, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda. Last September, Doc to Dock delivered a truckload of vitally needed general medical supplies, orthopedic equipment, and baby formula for emergency relief to hurricane-stricken Haiti in the Caribbean.
“It’s a matter of morality,” says Charesh. “We’re throwing out things that people in Africa are perishing for lack of.” Recently, he witnessed a young African boy dying of malaria. While the life-saving medicine was available, there was no intravenous line to administer it to him. “When our container arrived, they pulled out the line and saved him,” he says. “It’s stories like this that prove we’re doing good.”