Paul Farmer: Partners in Health

The following lecture was given at the Chicago Humanities Festival on November 9th, 2009, just two months before Port-au-Prince was struck with a devastating earthquake.

Partners in Health was founded in 1987 as a small health-care service for residents of Cange, Haiti. The program quickly expanded to include training programs for health-care outreach workers, a mobile unit for preventive screening of area residents, and an ongoing study of sickness and health among Haitis rural inhabitants. Today, Partners in Health has expanded its reach across Haiti and into five more countries. Founding director and medical anthropologist Paul Farmer, the subject of Tracy Kidder's book Mountains Beyond Mountains (2003), speaks about his work with the organization and his commitment to global health care.

This program is part of the national speaker series offered by Facing History and Ourselves, an international and professional development organization with a commitment to cultivating a more humane and informed citizenry through the engagement of students of diverse backgrounds. These Community Conversations are sponsored by the Allstate Foundation.