Home > Archive by category "NCD Narratives"

NCD Narratives

According to the International Diabetes Federation, by 2030 the Philippines will be one of 10 countries with the highest number of diabetes cases. Humanity & Inclusion took on the challenge of closing the gap between the existing national non-communicable diseases (NCD) framework and the needed services for NCD prevention and control in Davao City. Diabetes care was thus improved through a three-year pilot diabetes project from 2007 to 2009 – with emphasis on preventive foot care and rehabilitation. Based on this experience, the cardiovascular disease (CVD) project was launched, to promote a multidisciplinary and integrated approach to care for people with CVD risk factors and diabetes.

Dr. Atul Pavnikar is a Non-communicable Disease (NCD) Medical Officer working at an NCD Clinic in the Indore District Hospital in Indore, India. Over the course of his career, Dr. Pavnikar has seen the positive impact of preventive care in relation to NCDs. However, due to resource constraints at the NCD Clinic, he rarely has the time or resources to provide prevention services to his patients. “We don’t prevent NCDs, we only treat.”

According to International Diabetes Federation, the Philippines will be one of 10 countries with the highest number of diabetes cases by 2030. Humanity & Inclusion took on the challenge of closing the gap between the existing national non-communicable diseases (NCD) framework and the needed services for NCD prevention and control in Davao City. Diabetes care was thus improved through a three-year pilot diabetes project from 2007 to 2009 – with emphasis on preventive foot care and rehabilitation. Based on this experience, the cardiovascular disease (CVD) project was launched, to promote a multidisciplinary and integrated approach to care for people with CVD risk factors and diabetes.

War drove Labon Doka at the age of 20 to abandon his home in Sudan for a refugee camp in Ethiopia. It was in the refugee camp that his behavior started to change, subtly at first, and then more drastically.  He eventually stopped going to the school where he was a teacher and it was not long before he could no longer support himself. In 2013, he joined his father, who was living in Maban, a country in South Sudan not far from the Sudanese border.  Labon’s mental health continued to deteriorate. They tried traditional healers, but nothing seemed to work. Then, in October 2013, they learned about mental health care services provided by International Medical Corps to refugees living in Maban.

Young men pulling carts, women selling groceries, children playing ‘kalongolongo’ (cookery game), welcome to Ribakia Community Unit (CU), Embakasi West sub-county, Nairobi County in Kenya. Ribakia is home to thousands of households, striving hard to put food on the table. This zeal, however, sometimes comes with neglect of personal health with preference for easily available fast foods, poor hygiene, lack of exercise, and lack of adequate rest. This unhealthy lifestyle has made it difficult for some household members to manage contracted non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like asthma and diabetes. It is with this in mind that GSK, in partnership with Amref Health Africa, developed training on managing asthma and diabetes, rolled out through Leap, the mHealth platform.

Upon hearing her diagnosis of cervical cancer, the world of 19-year-old Ugandan Kembabazi was shattered and her dream of acquiring a university degree put sharply on hold.As the oldest child of a single mother, the diagnosis came as a shock to the family and the once bright future her mother had anticipated for her, became instead a dim possibility. But it is not simply the disease the Kembabazi must battle, but at her young age, she must also navigate the struggles associated with her late diagnosis, stigmatization of the disease, and treatment limitations in her country.

For Arunav Misra, it was a rapid descent. The 62-year-old Delhi-based environmental consultant had raced with a volunteer squad to the Gujarat earthquake site in January 2001 to help with rescue, rehabilitation, and relief. He lifted 100 dead bodies from the debris. Some days he couldn’t eat or sleep. After 15 days of providing logistical support, a stressed-out Arunav returned home with pain in his heart and stomach. The diagnosis: diabetes. That led to a mental-breakdown and months of depression, frustration, and agony as his diet changed and his everyday life was disrupted.

Babesh Tamang was four years old when he developed an infection in his foot. His mother, Muna, took him to a local health post and then to the hospital closest to their home in Itahari, a small city nine hours drive east of Kathmandu in Nepal. Doctors at the hospital told Muna she should take Babesh to India for an MRI. But Muna couldn’t afford to pay for the travel and medical costs from the less than $3,500 a year her husband earns working as a laborer in the Persian Gulf. So they treated Babesh’s foot infection with medications and hoped for the best.

In Kenya, the Base of the Pyramid project has greatly improved diabetes care due to price reductions, stable supplies of insulin, training of healthcare professionals, and strengthening of diabetes support centers. Jane Nyambura Chege, a housewife from Kikuyu in Kenya, is just one patient who has benefitted from the Base of the Pyramid project. Jane was diagnosed with diabetes at the age of 29, when she was pregnant with her youngest child.