Touch Foundation

ABBOTT FUND

Since 2001, the Abbott Fund has invested over $50 million to strengthen the Tanzanian health care system. In 2007, they launched the Regional Laboratory Modernization Project, aiming to build or modernize 23 regional laboratories by 2010. As their implementing partner in the Lake Zone, we are managing the renovation and reconstruction of laboratories in Bugando Medical Centre and the regional hospitals in Kagera, Shinyanga, and Singida. We have also helped to establish the Abbott Fund Scholarship for Medical Laboratory Sciences at Weill Bugando’s university, which provides funding for the training of over one hundred lab technicians each year.

Abbott Fund

AMERICAN AUSTRIAN FOUNDATION (AAF)

The American Austrian Foundation, in collaboration with the Open Medical Institute in Salzburg, made its medical seminar and internship program available to Tanzanian physicians and medical teachers. In 2009, a group of twenty Tanzanians traveled to Austria for the medical seminar in Salzburg and an internship in Vienna. The program exposed students to “best practice” medical institutions.

American Austrian Foundation (AAF)

BRISTOL-MYERS SQUIBB FOUNDATION

Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation focuses on reducing the burden of disease in Africa, through strengthening community-based healthcare and the links between community efforts and health systems. In 2008, the Foundation provided seed funding and on-the-ground technical support for the development of our Lake Zone Initiative. They have since remained an important supporter of our efforts. In partnership with the U.S. Agency for International Development, BMSF is also supporting the Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative with the construction of a center of excellence for pediatric HIV/AIDS care at Bugando in Mwanza, Tanzania.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation

BUGANDO MEDICAL CENTRE

Bugando Medical Centre (BMC), Weill Bugando’s teaching hospital, is one of the most specialized in Tanzania. As one of the four largest hospitals in the country, it also treats over sixty thousand patients each year. Opening in 1971 as a joint venture between the Catholic Church in Tanzania and the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, it now serves as the peak referral facility for 6 regional hospitals, 46 district hospitals, 148 health centers and 1,398 dispensaries in the region. The Touch Foundation is working towards a redevelopment plan that will make the medical complex a best-in-class facility and a genuine center of excellence in the delivery of healthcare.

Bugando Medical Centre

CITI AND CITI FOUNDATION

Both Citi and Citi Foundation made critical contributions to the Touch Foundation's early work, both through a gift toward the establishment of Weill Bugando’s university and a substantial donation in honor of Citi’s retiring chairman Sandy Weill.

Citi Foundation

MCKINSEY & COMPANY

McKinsey & Company, the international management and strategy consulting firm, has been a critical partner from our earliest days. Prior to our formal incorporation in 2004, McKinsey helped design and shape our organization. Since then, McKinsey has joined us in conducting three pro bono diagnostic studies on the ground in Tanzania. In addition to generous donations of time and monetary gifts from hundreds of McKinsey employees through the Gift of Hope program, McKinsey’s in-kind support of office space and information technology services has been immensely valuable to our growing organization. Lowell Bryan, a director (senior partner) at McKinsey, is the Touch Foundation’s President. Vikram Malhotra, McKinsey director and leader of McKinsey’s Northeast Complex, is also a member of our Board.

McKinsey & Company

STROOCK & STROOCK & LAVAN, LLP

In addition to donating regularly to the Touch Foundation, Stroock & Stroock & Lavan, LLP offers generous pro bono legal support. The firm provided essential support during the formative stages of our development. David Lowden, Special Counsel, volunteers as our attorney and is Secretary to the Touch Foundation’s Board of Directors. Kevin Curnin, Special Counsel and Director of the firm’s Public Service Project, sits on the Touch Foundation’s Board.

Stroock & Stroock & Lavan, LLP

TANZANIAN EPISCOPAL CONFERENCE (TEC)

The Tanzanian Episcopal Conference (TEC), first recognized the need to contribute to the training of more health professionals in Tanzania in July 1994, when they began working toward the establishment of Weill Bugando’s university. The TEC continues to provide managerial support and oversight, epitomized by Bishop Aloysius Balina’s role as Chairman of the Board at Weill Bugando. Bishop Balina also provides scholarships to students through his own entrepreneurial ventures.

Tanzanian Episcopal Conference (TEC)

TANZANIAN MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL WELFARE (MoHSW)

Our work in Tanzania is sanctioned through a Memorandum of Understanding with Tanzania’s Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MoHSW) [link to Memorandum] signed in July 2007. In this document, we recognize our mutual goal of improving the health and well-being of all Tanzanians. The Government of Tanzania supports the Touch Foundation’s mission to increase the capacity of health care training centers, by supporting our projects and providing expertise on the ground in Tanzania.

Tanzanian Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MoHSW)

UNITED STATES AGENCY FOR INERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (USAID)

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is a key development partner for the Touch Foundation in Tanzania. They have pledged funding over three years, through a Global Development Alliance public-private partnership, to support our work to strengthen the health workforce in Tanzania.

United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

WEILL BUGANDO UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF HEALTH SCIENCES (WBUCHS)

Weill Bugando University College of Health Sciences (WBUCHS) became operational in 2003 with an initial class of ten M.D. students. With assistance from the Touch Foundation, WBUCHS has grown to over eight hundred students across eight disciplines: postgraduate residency (five specialties); undergraduate M.D.; and diploma courses for trainees to become nurses, laboratory technicians, pharmacy technicians, nurse anesthetists, assistant medical officers and radiographers. The Touch Foundation provides the majority of funding required by WBUCHS, added over 850 beds in new student housing facilities (thus removing a key bottleneck to growth), and assists with the management and day-to-day operations of the University. To date, the Touch Foundation has invested well over $8 million in funding with another $4 million in capital projects to provide a foundation for future growth and best practice teaching techniques.

Weill Bugando University College of Health Sciences (WBUCHS)

WEILL CORNELL MEDICAL COLLEGE (WCMC)

Weill Cornell Medical College sends approximately 30 residents per year to Weill Bugando to share clinical and leadership skills with Tanzanian doctors and gain first-hand medical experience in the developing world. Weill Cornell supports faculty in residence who live, work and teach at Weill Bugando, currently Dr. Rob Peck and Dr. Beatrice Im. Weill Cornell also provided strategic direction in the creation of the Touch Foundation’s inaugural project, the growth and development of Bugando University College of Health Sciences. In May 2006, the two institutions signed an affiliation agreement to formalize their relationship. Finally, Weill Cornell has provided library books, computers, and their basic curriculum on CD-ROM.

Weill Cornell Medical College (WCMC)