MHI International, Inc
If there is anything to be taken for granted, it isn't the MIND!
MHI's container with all of the medical equipment and supplies is on its way to Southern Sudan in order to improve health care quality and in preparation for the upcoming referendum, but won't arrive until at least the middle of November. The ship left Houston's port on Sept. 24. Upon reaching Mombasa it will be trucked across Kenya to S. Sudan where its contents have to be transferred into two 20 ft. containers because of the weight and the unsupported roads. In the meanwhile, we are trying to organize the installation and maintenance of the medical equipment under two technicians, and organize training with a staff of six including nurses, psychologists, and a physician. People will come from all over Southern Sudan for training. Five satellite trauma centers will be established at different and strategic places because of the miles covered by the main community health center.
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Biobehavioral Model Applied to Integrated Programs
Long before Cohen and Williamson (1991) published their article on “Stress and Infectious Disease in Humans,” Andrew and Tennant (1978) had already postulated the possibility of a direct link between stress (resulting from traumas) and physical illnesses. Unlike that of Cohen & Williamson, however, Andrew and colleague were not essentially and specifically linking infectious disease to stress, however their recognition of possible correlation between mind (psychological) conditions and body (physical) illnesses put them among the revered pioneers of behavioral medicine. Today, works in biopsychological inquiries into human health and well-being are achieved and have contributed tremendously to the growth of modern health care and well-being. Be it as it may, in spite of the numerous research findings on the relationship between stress and infectious/chronic diseases (Yang & Glaser, 2000; ScienceDaily, 1999; Biondi & Zannino, 1997), there are little or no studies on the relationship between infectious diseases and trauma, stress, nutrition, and personality. Most of the related studies are on chronic diseases. Even the studies that deal with stress and infectious diseases are totally focused on North America and Europe populations, yet 90% of the world’s infectious diseases are located in Africa (The Medical News). If America and Europe had largely depended for decades, on researches that implicated stress, nutrition, personality and immunity in causation, susceptibility, exacerbation of infectious/chronic diseases, why is the same finding not applied to the eradication of Africa’s endemic infectious diseases (Davis et al, 2001; Denman, A. M. (1986)?
