Stories that inspire

Doctors of the World is an independent international organization, present in 78 countries and established in Canada since 1996. Its mission is to offer, and broaden access to, health care for marginalized and vulnerable people.

The Foundation of Greater Montréal is proud to have supported Doctors of the World since 2014, through the Fondation Pierre Chamberland and the Chamandy Foundation Funds, but also via its own Community Initiatives Program and selected special projects. FGM has thus been able to help maintain some major initiatives, such as the clinic for migrants with precarious status. Vulnerable individuals who are not covered by Quebec Health Insurance nor by the Interim Federal Health Program, and who do not have private insurance nor financial means to access the health care they need, are cared for or given guidance by the clinic. Another initiative was the Pregnant Women’s Day project, in 2018, through which the organization offered women who were not eligible for free health care and living in precarious situations full accompaniment throughout their pregnancies, but also post-partum support. More recently, FGM supported Doctors of the World Canada through its COVID-19 Collective Fund, created this past spring in order to respond to the urgent needs resulting from the pandemic.

“I first decided to join Doctors of the World because it sees each individual as a whole, while also acting on this individual’s physical, socio-cultural, economic and political environment […] This approach is the DNA of Doctors of the World. The organization adopts this approach both in Canada and in international cooperation settings; because humanitarian work is needed both here and abroad. I want to help ensure that my colleagues in the healthcare sector acknowledge and use these levers, both in and outside healthcare institutions, in order to see sustainable changes occur for the well-being of everyone.” stated Dr. David-Martin Milot, President of Doctors of the World Canada, in the most recent Vital Signs of Greater Montréal report.

Dr. Milot specializes in public health and preventive medicine at the Direction de la santé publique for the Montérégie region, and is also an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, and in the substance abuse service at Université de Sherbrooke. He is also a researcher at the Institut universitaire sur les dépendances. In 2019, he was honored with the Canadian Medical Association’s Award for Young Leaders. The Foundation of Greater Montréal is honored to have him among the leaders of tomorrow who will be participating in this year’s edition of Philanthropy Month. Dr. Milot will be a panelist for the virtual panel on sustainable economic recovery, Thursday November 12 at 10 a.m.