Paul Freund

1943 - 2025

Paul Freund

October 19, 1943 - August 29, 2025

Dr. Paul Freund, 81, of Davenport, passed away Friday, August 29, 2025, in Davenport. Per his request, cremation rites will be provided. The Runge Mortuary is handling the arrangements.

He was born in Bayfield, WI, where his father was in the Coast Guard and partly responsible for maintaining the Lake Superior Lighthouse. At the end of WWII, his family moved to Ottumwa, IA where his father worked as a mechanic in the Morrell Meat Packing Company. He graduated from Walsh High School and joined the Navy. Trained as a Navy hospital corpsman, Dr. Freund worked as an operating room and eye technician (1961-1964) at Camp Pendleton Naval Hospital. After being honorably discharged, he attended St. Ambrose University and was the first graduate in the University's newly formed Davenport of Psychology (1968). After a year of working at the Franciscan Community Mental Health Unit in Rock Island, IL, he began graduate studies at the University of Iowa in anthropology/linguistics. Dr. Freund was awarded numerous research and teaching fellowships throughout his five-year tenure at the University and in addition, spent a semester as a CIC traveling scholar (University of Michigan) studying with professors noted for their work in Papua, New Guinea, which he had selected as the area of his doctoral field research.

He was awarded an MA in 1970 and taught at Cornell College while developing a research proposal to conduct a field study in PNG (Papua New Guinea). After obtaining official permission from the government of PNG, Dr Freund and his wife, Kathleen, began a 14 month stay among a recently contacted tribe (Kasua) with a focus on demography and social change. He earned his PhD in 1977.

Following a period of teaching at the University of Northern Iowa, he was awarded a one-year post-doctoral fellowship to Brown University (renewed a second year) with a focus on alcohol studies among ethnic groups in Rhode Island. While at Brown he expanded his interests by taking courses in medical anthropology, international development, and received training as an alcohol counselor.

Dr. Freund applied to Johns Hopkins University and was given a US Public Health Trainee-ship as well as a full scholarship to pursue advanced work in public health. While attending Johns Hopkins, he began working for the National Institute for Alcohol and Alcohol Abuse (NIAAA) in Bethesda, Maryland as a senior researcher on a project entitled "Ecology of Drinking in Washington DC", which enabled him to utilize his skills as an anthropologist and public health professional. After completing advanced public health studies at Johns Hopkins (MPH 1981) and the end of the NIAAA contract, he accepted a contract to work in Zambia on a World Health Organization (WHO) project on the community response to alcohol problems. Dr. Freund was appointed a senior researcher/lecturer at the Institute for African Studies, part of the University of Zambia and formerly called the Rhodes/Livingstone Institute. During his five-year contract, he along with Zambian counterparts, carried out projects for the government of Zambia, UNICEF Norway Norad, Swedish Sida, World Bank, UNHCR, and WHO. In addition, he taught medical students at the University of Zambia in community health.

Given the prevalence of malnutrition, respiratory and diarrheal diseases, Dr. Freund, along with officers from WHO and UNICEF, were instrumental in the construction of a diarrheal treatment and training center at the Zambian Teaching Hospital (Lusaka). The center was key to improving case management skills of health workers, doctors, and mothers in dealing with diarrhea, acute respiratory illness, and malnutrition. Throughout his tenure at the African Institute, Dr. Freund was active in promoting donor coordination and in the developing and adopting of important health policy guidelines in acute respiratory illness, breastfeeding, diarrheal disease control and malnutrition. He was able to develop close personal relationships with key government leaders, physicians and heads of NGOs who facilitated the acceptance of health policies during periods of economic hardships, cholera outbreaks, HIV and political instability.

He used innovative methods to promote better health practices involving traditional healers to teach mothers how to deal with diarrhea using (ORS) oral re-hydration salts. He was a strong advocate of the use of popular theater to promote health. He trained and used these groups who then traveled throughout the country spreading information on diarrhea control, HIV and water/sanitation.

Following the expiry of the University contract, Dr. Freund accepted an appointment as Zambian country representative for Pritech (USAID) global project. The project was focused on teaching mothers on the use of oral rehydration salts (ORS) and related issues such as malnutrition and HIV. Upon completion of the Pritech project, he worked in Washington to develop project proposals and respond to African countries requests for assistance in dealing with health. Dr. Freund was a team leader for a nation-wide health project development in Eritrea. This project proposal was successful and began soon after Eritrea celebrated its 2nd year of independence from Ethiopia. Dr. Freund also worked in Boston for Management Sciences for Health, a company that was his primary employer for fourteen years for many of the projects funded by the Untied States Agency for International Development (USAID). His primary responsibilities in Boston entailed recruiting qualified personnel and conducting site visits prior to actual project implementation. He also carried out three different bridging activities in Zambia and Ethiopia which were key to successful project start-up, including hiring staff, office set-up and liaison with key government ministries and NGOs.

After working with a project development team in Ethiopia, Dr. Freund was appointed Deputy Chief of Party for a large-scale Primary Health Care effort in the Southern Peoples Region of Ethiopia. During the five-year project, he designed and implemented a project involving various aspects of disease control community projects related to maternal child health, water and sanitation, HIV and primary health care.

During the periods between long-term country projects, he worked in Boston for MSH (Management Sciences for Health) to recruit personnel for ongoing projects in Ethiopia. He also worked in Washington (USAID) Africa Bureau to develop new projects and to assist in preparing requests for proposals (RFS). At the same time, he was interviewed for positions in Ethiopia (teaching at the medical school. He also participated in on-going projects as consultant for the World Bank UNICEF sponsored midwifery training.

Dr. Freund returned to Zambia as a senior advisor to work for BASICS, a USAID funded project focused on maternal child health (MCH), female education, HIV/AIDS, nutrition, and de-worming of children. This large-scale innovative national project had immediate benefits and was sustainable. He worked closely with the Ministries of Education and Health. In addition to a central office, Dr. Freund shared offices with the key ministries health and education. Preliminary research revealed that 80% of Zambian children had significant worm loads that robbed them of nutrition and impeded their ability to learn. The project focused on developed training materials and trained teachers to deliver the drugs. Teachers and health workers were trained together to encourage cooperation and to convince health workers that teachers were not usurping health worker's jobs. Although the drugs were safe, parents needed to be reassured that teachers were not harming their children. The project was successful in obtaining one million dollars from the Gates Foundation for the purchase of de-working drugs. This project was an ideal example of the benefits of combining health and education. The de-worming program was successful and has been replicated in other countries including, Nigeria and Malawi.

Throughout his career, Dr. Freund focused on empowerment of local staff including physicians, health workers and support staff. In addition, he was a mentor for Zambian students pursuing advanced degrees.

Dr. Freund has functioned throughout his 23 years in Africa as a successful program designer and implementer. He has published extensively on alcohol issues, MCH, health policy, traditional healers, health project evaluation, and primary health care. He has achieved high levels of success with his open innovative approach and interaction with key government officials. He worked with visiting researchers from Germany, UK, Netherlands, Sweden and U.S. in implementing their projects and adjusting to life in Zambia and Ethiopia. He was always generous of his time and acted as a consultant for World Bank, Irish Aid, World Vision, Save the Children and Japanese Aid Agency. He also had been a project reviewer for USAID Africa Bureau Washington, DC on issues related to population/demography and health.

In spite of the tragedy that is HIV/AIDS, Dr. Freund remained optimistic and never gave up in his efforts to alleviate suffering and improve the health of women and children. His adaptability and persistence in the face of challenging environments led to an enviable record of achievements. He had always been aware of the need to balance theoretical and practical or applied research. He was a key investigator in a long-term UNICEF sponsored project focused on the implementation of primary health care in rural Zambia. The practical outcome of the research led to improved community health worker training materials, guidelines for CHW selection and clarification of their role in communities as well as established guidelines for evaluation. Moreover, the research enabled the government of Zambia to refine primary health care implementation. A WHO sponsored project provided training for physicians and health workers to appreciate the importance of research in their work. This included: selecting a problem, proposal writing, obtaining funding, follow-up on findings, and applicability to their work.

Both projects have fed directly into and influenced government policy. Dr. Freund has served on health policy committees which determined health policy guidelines for diarrheal disease control, ARI, breastfeeding, role of traditional healers, HIV/AIDS, malnutrition and PHC and NGO coordination. His work provided key support and sound basis for an improved health care system.

The unifying theme in all of Dr. Freund's projects was the improvement of health from the highest policy level through the development of clear policy guidelines, NGO coordination and working closely with government health and education ministries. At the community level, he achieved this by strengthening the role of community health workers and rural health clinics to improve case management skills and define the role of front-line resources like traditional healers and midwives. Improving female education was also a key element in all of the project strategies.

Paul and Kathleen began their career in Africa by living and working under local conditions and sharing with Zambians the sacrifices and austerity of being in a front-line state and home of the ANC (African National Congress). Paul worked for over five years as a teacher/researcher at the University of Zambia solely on local conditions and salary. Kathleen worked as a volunteer teacher for the Christian Council of Zambia teaching home craft skills to Zambian women to enable them to make a living as well as helping several NGOs in providing support for victims of AIDS. Throughout his tenure in Zambia and Ethiopia, Paul developed relationships with key government officials that proved invaluable in his work. Moreover, his dedication and respect he earned by assisting Zambian students and his efforts to build local capacity in the face of political and economic hardship never wavered.

His primary focus remained on improving the lives of women and children.

Paul and Kathleen gave generously of their time and resources during their 23 years in Africa. Their house became a haven for visitors including health care advisors, Peace Corp volunteers and researchers. Paul sponsored and supplied a youth soccer team in Ethiopia and Kathleen assisted the mission hospital in Ethiopia in their MCH outreach activities.

Dr. Freund collaborated with CDC and the Japanese Development Agency to strengthen the capacity of the University Teaching Hospital diagnostic laboratory during the Cholera outbreak in Zambia including the provision of equipment, microscopes and technical assistance (ex. Officers from the CDC).

During a large part of the time, Paul and Kathleen worked in Zambia during its position as a front-line state and in Ethiopia shortly after the Dergue or communist period. In spite of the sociopolitical difficulties and privations they accomplished a great deal.

He was preceded in death by his wife of 34 years who passed away in South Africa and a brother.

Runge Mortuary

838 E. Kimberly Rd Davenport, IA 52807

563-391-6202