Paul Farmer, the physician, anthropologist and visionary leader of the American non-profit organisation Partners in Health (PIH), defied sceptics who said poor countries are “health deserts”. Forging partnerships between governments, academic institutions and philanthropists, he made it possible for even the poorest communities to have world-class hospitals and astonishingly successful health programmes.
Farmer, who has died suddenly aged 62, co-founded PIH in 1987 and led its work in 12 countries, including Haiti, Rwanda, Peru and Sierre Leone, with 18,000 staff. A passionate believer in social justice and building local capacity, he said medical treatment is not enough if people are sick because they are starving and destitute. He said PIH had to be “the house of yes”, working with government partners to build wraparound care that met both short- and long-term needs, from cash so patients could buy food, to community health workers, sanitation, hospitals and schools.
