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**Currently, MEDWorld is not operational and not accepting donations. This page will be updated if/when this changes.**

 

 

MEDworld is an all-volunteer organization designed to recover usable medical supplies that would otherwise be discarded. The materials we collect are sent to developing countries where they can be used in clinics and hospitals serving the poor.

 

 

Why MEDworld is Critical

Every year, US hospitals throw away millions of dollars worth of unused medical supplies while in many impoverished countries thousands of people die due to lack of such supplies.

As stated by Global Links, a medical supply recovery organization in Pittsburgh: “For people in developing countries, basic medical supplies are luxuries that are simply not available or not affordable. Doctors and nurses must constantly make do – washing and reusing “disposable” gloves and syringes, or substituting inappropriate materials such as fishing line or sewing thread for suture – or patients must go without needed care. In many countries patients must bring their own supplies, even acquire their own medicines, before treatment can be given.”

The MEDworld Solution

MEDworld was created in 1999 by UNC physicians, medical students, and hospital staff as well as other UNC professionals, who were looking for an opportunity to do community service on a global scale while improving morale and reducing hospital waste.

The supplies we donate are still valuable, but no longer usable in the United States due to technological change, regulatory requirements or hospital surplus policies.

MEDworld is an environmentally responsible alternative for UNC Health Care to redistribute recovered materials and thereby improve and save lives around the world.

Volunteers redistribute recovered materials at a sorting
session, to improve and save lives
around the world.