BUREAU FOR DEVELOPMENT, DEMOCRACY, AND INNOVATION

LOCAL, FAITH, AND TRANSFORMATIVE PARTNERSHIPS HUB

Limited Excess Property Program

JUNE 2022

The Limited Excess Property Program (LEPP) provides Private Voluntary Organizations (PVOs) access to federal surplus property to support their humanitarian and development projects abroad. LEPP utilizes an innovative model of recovery and reuse to support a variety of development projects that promote sustainability in developing countries. LEPP is managed by USAID's American Schools and Hospitals Abroad (ASHA), which is part of the Bureau for Development, Democracy, and Innovation's Local, Faith, and Transformative Partnerships (LFT) Hub.

SECOND QUARTER LEPP PROPERTY TRANSFER HIGHLIGHTS

A variety of items valued at $3,487,458 were requisitioned and processed through LEPP in the second quarter of fiscal year 2022. Most of the property was earmarked for regional hospitals and health care centers that serve remote populations in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

• United Ukrainian American Relief Committee (UUARC), in partnership with LEPP, accessed $307,751 worth of medical supplies that will ship to Ukraine as soon as circumstances permit. Surgical instruments, adhesive tape, syringes, and occlusive dressing will be airlifted to Warsaw, Poland from where they will be distributed to regional hospitals in Ukraine through established UUARC channels. Other medical supplies, such as hospital and surgical clothing, gloves, and surgical mask shields will be shipped via containers. These supplies are targeted for use in regional hospitals and village clinics providing treatment for victims of Russia’s war against Ukraine. Many hospitals have been damaged and destroyed during the war, and the need for medical supplies and equipment is dire. Because of the war, actual delivery sites will be determined based on the need and conditions on the ground at the time the supplies are available for delivery.

• World Help, in partnership with LEPP, accessed $1,113,024 worth of brand-new anesthesia machines and $362,880 worth of hygiene kits that are expected to ship to Burundi, Guatemala, Honduras, Nepal, Peru, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Zambia. The anesthesia machines will go to hospitals and health facilities in under-resourced communities that lack the budget to acquire this type of equipment. Many health facilities in these recipient countries use their limited funding to lease medical equipment, paying thousands of dollars each month or year. This USAID/LEPP donation frees up resources that can be redirected to operational and service areas. The hygiene kits will provide under-resourced communities with a variety of hygiene products they need, including toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, soap, washcloths, razors, and more. World Help will be mobilizing over 25,000 hygiene kits to multiple countries.  

• CURE International, in partnership with LEPP, accessed a mobile C-arm X-Ray machine worth $155,621 that will ship to Niger. This C-Arm will be placed at the CURE Hôpital des Enfants au Niger (CURE Niger), part of CURE International’s network of children’s hospitals. Established in 2010, CURE Niger is the only hospital in the country of over 24 million people that offers specialty surgical care for the estimated 665,000 children living with treatable physical disabilities in Niger. The C-Arm imaging device allows the surgeon to see a moving X-ray of the patient in real-time. This is extremely helpful during complex orthopedic procedures and is critical to achieving high-quality surgical outcomes. In addition, CURE International accessed four hospital exam tables worth $27,050 that will go to the CURE Ethiopia Children’s Hospital (CURE Ethiopia) in Addis Ababa. CURE Ethiopia is a College of Surgeons of East, Central, and Southern Africa (COSECSA) accredited teaching hospital and remains the only hospital in the country dedicated to treating the orthopedic and maxillofacial needs of children with treatable disabilities like untreated clubfoot, bowed legs, burn contractures, cleft lips and palates, and other treatable conditions.

• Food For The Poor (FFTP), in partnership with LEPP, accessed $93,009 worth of assorted COVID-19 N95 masks to ship to El Salvador. The N95 masks will go to The New Horizons Foundation for the Poor (FUNHOPO) which has a permanent health program to help improve the quality of health services for the most vulnerable people, especially those in rural areas. The donations are directed to parish and community clinics, health units, and government hospitals as well as to other foundations that run health care programs in rural areas. As part of its health program, FUNHOPO also supports the Department of Medicine of the University of El Salvador with medical supplies and equipment. The N95 mask donations will help students to continue to study medicine in a safe environment. In addition, FFTP accessed six flexible video cystoscopes for $87,414 that will ship to Guatemala. The medical equipment will go to The Children’s Hospital Juan Pablo II in Mixco, Guatemala, the only pediatric hospital in Guatemala. The video cystoscopes will aid in the care of children and adolescents who suffer from urological medical conditions.

FOUNDATION IN EL SALVADOR PROVIDES FREE CANCER TREATMENT TO CHILDREN

WITH THE HELP OF EQUIPMENT PROVIDED THROUGH LEPP

PHOTO CREDIT: FUNDACIÓN AYÚDAME A VIVIR EL SALVADOR. MEDICAL DIRECTOR, DR. FRANKLIN VASQUEZ WITH PATIENT RODRIGO DE LA O.

In El Salvador—where more than 42 percent of the population lives below the poverty line—Fundación Ayúdame a Vivir (Help Me Live) is offering free medical treatment to children with cancer with the support of Food For The Poor (FFTP) and the Limited Excess Property Program (LEPP).

Poverty continues to increase in El Salvador (according to the El Salvador Multipurpose Household Survey (EHPM), poverty rose by 3.4 percent from 2019 to 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic) and health conditions remain poor. There are significant gaps in nutrition, limited access to drinking water, and inadequate sanitation and housing conditions for the country’s most vulnerable populations. In child populations, diarrheal, parasitic, and respiratory diseases predominate as well as illnesses associated with malnutrition. Infant mortality in the country amounts to 17.5 per 1,000 live births. In addition, in 2020 there were an estimated 32,065 new cases of cancer in the Americas in children aged 0 to 14 years, according to data from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). Of those cases, 20,855 occurred in Latin America and Caribbean countries. Eighty percent of children with cancer survive in high-income countries and only 20 percent survive in low- and middle-income countries, according to PAHO.*

Moreover, El Salvador is struggling under the weight of a deteriorating health system. There is a decreased investment in public health, especially in preventive and primary health care; high-priced medicines; and a lack of coordination, equipment, and infrastructure.

PHOTO CREDIT: FUNDACIÓN AYÚDAME A VIVIR EL SALVADOR. HEAD OF NURSING SILVIA LETICIA FLORES WITH 6-YEAR-OLD ALEJANDRO VENTURA AND HIS MOTHER.

Amid these challenges, Fundación Ayúdame a Vivir is working to fill some of El Salvador’s health gaps by providing access to comprehensive cancer treatment free of charge for patients 0 to 12 years old. Among the types of cancers treated are: leukemias (49 percent), lymphomas (13 percent), tumors of the central nervous system (12 percent), soft tissue tumors (6 percent), bone tumors (5 percent), kidney tumors (5 percent), neuroblastoma (3 percent), retinoblastoma (2 percent), germ cell tumors, and liver tumors. 

Currently, the nonprofit organization has an average of more than 1,000 patients in treatment and remission.

Fundación Ayúdame a Vivir provides both inpatient care and outpatient treatments. In addition to providing chemotherapy treatment, doctors perform bone marrow aspirations, lumbar punctures, and central venous catheter procedures. And the flow cytometry laboratory provides an accurate diagnosis of the type of cancer and recommended treatment within 24 hours.

Thanks to FFTP, in partnership with LEPP, the Foundation was able to equip four medical clinics with five transport beds. The beds make patients more comfortable during delicate procedures such as biopsies, sedation, and analgesia processes as well as during routine patient examinations. Since December 2021, the transport bed donation has contributed to an increase in outpatient care; an improvement in patient examination processes; more efficient procedures by medical and nursing staff; and decreased stress levels in patients.

Dr. Roberto Vásquez, pediatric oncologist and medical director for Fundación Ayúdame a Vivir, expressed his appreciation for how the transport beds have improved patient care.

“The donation of this equipment has come to strengthen patient care in our pediatric oncology program. We can now provide medical consultations to patients in a comfortable examination bed. The beds have also generated more comfort for patients who are undergoing procedures that are delicate and even painful. This reduces the patients’ anxiety levels and facilitates the work of the doctor.” 

LEPP will continue to strengthen program collaborations with faith-based partner organizations like FFTP to support humanitarian projects that improve lives—and in the case of Fundación Ayúdame a Vivir—even save them.

*In 1991, the survival rate for children with cancer in El Salvador was less than 5 percent. In 2022, the survival rate has risen to more than 70 percent for children with some types of cancer. This is well above the average survival rate for low-income countries.

HEALEYIRF’S FIRST LEPP SHIPMENT TO AID LOCAL COMMUNITIES IN SIERRA LEONE

PHOTO CREDIT: HEALEYIRF. HEALEYIRF STAFF LOAD WHEELCHAIRS MADE AVAILABLE THROUGH LEPP TO SHIP TO SIERRA LEONE.

LEPP’s new PVO Partner Healey International Relief (IRF) sent its first shipment of federal surplus property to Sierra Leone in October 2021. Critical medical supplies included folding tables; lateral files; file charts; metal file cabinets; metal carts and flatbed carts; stackable and recliner chairs; and wheelchairs.

Most items will be used to improve the administrative operations and health strengthening efforts of HealeyIRF’s in-country partners Christian Health Association of Sierra Leone (CHASL) and Caritas Freetown. CHASL has a membership of 42 faith-based health facilities across Sierra Leone with Caritas Freetown managing four of those facilities. The focus for this first order will be on selected facilities located in Freetown and the surrounding communities, which serve approximately 5,500 patients.

PHOTO CREDIT: HEALEYIRF. CARITAS FREETOWN HEALTH ADMINISTRATOR SISTER JOSEPHINE AMARA.

The file cabinets fulfill hospital and clinic needs for items to help staff better organize patient records. Metal carts will help staff to move medicines and medical supplies more efficiently from storage areas to the patients. Health facilities will use the stackable chairs and folding tables in a variety of ways. Some facilities requested chairs for their patient waiting rooms and others needed tables and chairs for use in their triage areas when checking in patients and taking their vital signs. Tables and chairs will support staff meetings and capacity training sessions for the staff’s professional development.

The recliner chairs and wheelchairs are for use by patients and their families. Many rural facilities have maternity houses where at-risk pregnant women come a few weeks before their delivery. Sometimes these women will have a family member accompany them.

The recliner chairs are placed by the beds for family members to sit or sleep while they stay with the mother-to-be. Large, heavy-duty wheelchairs are always needed to assist patients and are particularly useful for moving patients in critical situations.

Caritas Freetown Health Administrator Sister Josephine Amara noted, “These items are very difficult for us to find, but they will help the staff at our health facilities be more efficient and organized. We are happy to be a partner with HealeyIRF and USAID in this program.”

ANNOUNCEMENTS

PARTNER WITH THE LFT HUB

The Limited Excess Property Program is part of the Local, Faith, and Transformative Partnerships (LFT) Hub. 

The LFT Hub focuses on strengthening USAID’s ability to partner with non-traditional and diverse actors including local, faith-based, and community organizations; schools and hospitals; foundations; diaspora communities; cooperatives; and volunteer organizations. Learn more about how LFT is harnessing the power of partnerships through the following:

• American Schools and Hospitals Abroad (ASHA)
• Faith and Neighborhood Partnerships (FBNP)
• Limited Excess Property Program (LEPP)
• Locally Led Development Initiatives (LLDI)
• New Partnerships Initiative (NPI)

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! 

Your stories, photos, videos, and news releases are always welcome. Help us spread the good news about your work and partnership with LEPP. Also, LEPP PVOs and Missions, please notify us of your upcoming LEPP-related public diplomacy events. Please send information to LEPP@USAID.gov.

For further information on the LEPP program, please email: LEPP@USAID.gov.

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