GLOBAL LINKS – Medical Equipment for Health Facilities in Honduras - PAHO/WHO

Strengthening the Public Health Services Network in Honduras

Global Links and PAHO Join Forces to Expand Equitable Access to Quality Health Services Through the Circular Economy

Global Links is a non-governmental organization based in Pittsburgh, United States. It was founded in 1989 to rescue useful surplus medical materials from the U.S. health system to share with health services in developing countries.

For over three decades, Global Links’ Medical Surplus Recovery Program has provided health care institutions, corporations, universities, and the general public with an alternative to dispose of surplus medical supplies and furniture that still have a useful life. With this strategy, around 250 tons of high-quality medical materials are collected each year, simultaneously supporting the circular economy.

Global Links works with national and international partners and collaborates with health ministries and other institutions linked to public health systems in several countries in the Region. It also has an International Medical Aid Program, through which it has collaborated on health improvement projects, educational exchanges, and medical studies in 15 Latin American and Caribbean countries.

Global Links and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) in Honduras are working together to support the Ministry of Health (SESAL) in enhancing the quality of health services and improving access to health resources, particularly in remote areas with vulnerable populations.

Hospital staff (in white), consultant for PAHO Honduras, Dr. Hector Alfaro (blue vest), Global Links staff, and the director of the health network of Yoro, Dr. Morillo, (brown vest) worked together to reset the lock on a crash cart.

Improving health care and emergency response capacity in Honduras

The Global Links program began working in Honduras in 1998 in the aftermath of Hurricane Mitch, which destroyed about 70% of the country’s basic infrastructure. Since then, the sustained collaboration between Global Links and PAHO has helped to improve provisioning in the country’s hospitals and health centers.

In 2017, with the support of PAHO and the Office of the First Lady, SESAL and Global Links signed an agreement to strengthen the health services network. PAHO has provided technical support to SESAL for prioritizing the health services that need to update their medical equipment, furniture, and basic or specialized supplies. In so doing, the resources managed through Global Links are channeled to the most neglected areas with vulnerable populations.

Thanks to this collaboration, Honduras has been able to identify what equipment and furniture needs to be replaced and establish annual plans for strengthening health services. Over the years, medical supplies, equipment, and furniture have been provided to health facilities in remote areas that, due to their geographic inaccessibility, had not renewed their equipment in several decades. This partnership has made it possible to improve not only health care but also the working conditions of staff in psychiatric hospitals, penitentiaries, and health services in areas with Afro-descendant, Miskito, and other ethnic populations.

This partnership has also expanded and complemented the public health system’s epidemic and emergency preparedness and response capacity. In 2019, faced with an atypically intense dengue outbreak, emergency supplies were sent and distributed to improve health care in stabilization centers. In support of the national government’s response to the COVID-19 emergency, containers with medical equipment, furniture, and supplies were also delivered for the country’s public health networks and referral hospitals.

Collaboration with Global Links is continuing with the renewal in 2023 of the agreement for the management, administration, and distribution of medical supplies, materials, clinical equipment, instruments, mobility devices, and medical and office equipment. Under the agreement, SESAL now assumes the cost of transporting the supplies to their destination.

Because of Global Links’ ability to reach out to a wide network of health organizations, universities, and corporations and its commitment to meeting the provisioning needs of health facilities of varying complexity in Honduras, it is a key partner for PAHO in furthering the goal of expanding equitable access to quality health services in the Region of the Americas.

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