Simple illnesses left untreated can turn deadly. People all over the world endure preventable or treatable health problems because medical services and supplies just simply aren’t available to them. These same people have little hope of having their major concerns treated -- concerns that can be cured with proper medical care. Insect bites, injuries and stomach flu shouldn’t result in death. Cataracts, hernias and an abscessed tooth shouldn’t destroy a life. The sad reality is far too often they do.

Decaying and painful teeth make laboring in the fields on Virginia's Eastern Shore even more strenuous for many migrant workers. In Bolivia, grandmothers with simple cataracts are unable to see their grandchildren’s faces or even cook a basic meal for themselves. Medical professionals in Eastern Europe are forced to use and reuse disposable items like operating gauze because there is no more money to buy supplies. The individual up front costs for basic surgery items such as anesthesia, sutures or bandages deter most from even attempting to get the help they need. It doesn’t have to be this way.

Through Operation Blessing’s Medical Services program, we continue to effectively respond to the desperation felt by both hurting people and caring medical professionals in the USA and worldwide. Every country’s needs are different, that’s why personalized care and attention is given to each and every situation. You can help us heal a hurting world today!

U.S. Medical Missions
Thousands of disadvantaged people living in the United States cannot access basic health services because they have little or no health care coverage and no resources to pay for it. Without affordable access to medical and dental care, the working poor and the elderly suffer most.

In the United States, we recruit dental professionals and mobilize short-term clinics to address unmet dental needs of at-risk populations such as migrant workers, Native Americans, residents in Appalachia, and under served rural communities. During these clinics we may offer basic medical, dental and pharmaceutical services as well as eye screenings, dependent upon the needs of the community.

International Medical Missions
Since our first international medical mission in 1994, Operation Blessing has impacted more than 6.9 million people in over 36 countries including Afghanistan, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Colombia, Ghana, Guatemala, India, Israel, Kenya, Kosovo, Mexico, Philippines, Romania, Rwandan refugee camps, Vietnam, and Ukraine with free medical, dental, optical and surgical services. Hundreds of health care professionals in developing countries have also been trained and equipped to continue medical missions in their own countries and regions.

The majority of our international medical mission teams are now made up of indigenous health care workers. We have medical mission programs actively treating the poorest of the poor in Guatemala, Philippines, China, Indonesia, Nigeria and Thailand. Operation Blessing helps equip these teams with medicines, mobile lab equipment and supplies to ensure quality care. Efforts are underway to begin teams in the CIS and other African nations. Our international network of medical teams holds clinics somewhere in the world virtually every week of the year.

Medicines, Equipment & Supplies
In many countries the lack of proper equipment makes it difficult to diagnose and treat a patient's illness accurately. Another challenge is the short supply of medical equipment and supplies. Items meant for one-time use are used time and time again breeding unsanitary conditions. We provide healthcare facilities in developing countries with items such as hospital beds, linens, basic laboratory equipment, scrubs, IV packets, syringes, bandages as well as other hospital and clinic supplies. Hundreds of thousands of patients around the world have benefited from these donations.

Cleft Lip & Palate Program
Thousands of boys and girls are born each day with a cleft lip and/or palate. This is in fact the second most common birth defect in the world. These children and their families suffer the medical, emotional and physical consequences of this visible deformity. Hearing their cry, we began the Set a Child Free program. Through partnerships with hospitals and medical staff in China, Africa, Indonesia and the Philippines, where cleft lip and palates are common, we are able to sponsor life changing surgery for pennies on the dollar. With their help and our partners' support, children of all ages will continue to receive free surgery and follow up care to ensure they are able to lead healthy and productive lives!

Community Clinics & General Health
Providing access to basic medicines, medical supplies and training in health issues has a tremendous impact on those living in poor and rural communities. These services reduce the infant mortality rate, prevents debilitation from minor ailments or wounds, and improves the community's overall health and well-being. We approach this in a variety of ways, depending on needs and circumstances. This includes but is not limited to:

· Supporting U.S. free clinics with medical supplies
· Establishing community pharmacies
· Equipping village schools with First Aid kits
· Providing pre-natal care and instruction to pregnant women
· Training communities in preventative healthcare issues
· Distributing sunscreen and sun glasses in areas with high UV saturation
· Daily vitamin plan for children
· Immunization campaigns

In recent years, communities in Africa, Asia, CIS, Eastern Europe, Latin America and the United States have all been positively impacted through OBI Community Health projects.

Immunization campaigns
We partner with local medical professionals to immunize children living in barrios and poor areas so they can grow up healthy and strong withstanding diseases that could otherwise take their lives at a young age. For instance in the Philippines our volunteer doctors monitor the shot records of malnourished children in our feeding programs updating immunizations to prevent many childhood diseases.

Church Partnerships
At Operation Blessing we have been partnering with local church medical teams traveling to developing nations for several years. We help provide things like medications, sharing field contacts or giving logistic assistance. These teams have given care in countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Burkina Faso, Cuba, Guatemala, Honduras, Kenya, Mexico, Nepal, and the Philippines.
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You can help free men, women and children from lifetimes of hurt and pain! Sending volunteer medical professionals, medicines, equipment, supplies and training to areas where medical care is just not available to most people can literally save the lives of the precious ones we serve. Bringing a doctor, dentist or optometrist to people who have never been treated brings healing and hope in a lifetime of hurt. For example, your gift of about $18 can relieve a person suffering from an infected tooth by providing either an extraction or filling.

Then there are men, women and children living with more serious conditions. Your gift of $350 can replace diseased corneas or fix crossed eyes. Or for just $400, set a child free by giving them the opportunity to have a cleft lip or palate surgery. Preventative health measures are also important to daily living. A gift of $100 can supplement the diets of 13 malnourished orphans with a year's supply of vitamins. See how simple breaking the cycle of suffering is? Join us in bringing healing to a hurting world today!