Rosales Hospital in El Salvador

Area  Partner Project responsible Project number Project start WDF grant	El Salvador Asociación Salvadoreña de Diabéticos (ASADI) A.G.A. de Cortez/Gloria Argueta WDF-F04-007/WDF-F04-007-2 April 2005 USD 35,857
Fundraising activities include:	Funds come from salary deductions from employees and managers working in Novo Nordisk. Typically a monthly donation in the range of USD 9-25 is given to help sustain the project.

Objectives Currently 233 people with diabetes, visiting the Rosales National Hospital for diabetes education, are given oral medication at no cost which enables them to ease the difficulties of living with diabetes.
	DCA2000 equipment and strips offers an otherwise expensive test for free to people with diabetes who attend the Rosales Hospital and who have a low income background.
Background The fundraising project at Rosales Hospital is run by ASADI, the national diabetes association, Asociación Salvadoreña de Diabéticos. Due to the lack of availability of diabetes care and services in the public sector, ASADI has shown to be vital for providing diabetes services, particularly within diabetes education and provision of subsidised or free medicines. At the Rosales Hospital, the main referral hospital, 100 patients are treated daily having a range of serious complications caused by their diabetes. The diabetes team is very dedicated and highly motivated, but their task is enormous as is the lack of basic equipment and educational materials which further complicates the situation. ASADI supports patients on a daily basis by giving free medication, but they also think ahead; patients are frequently educated on diabetes. Part of the funds has been invested in an ophthalmoscope, which will help detect eye complications. Preventive eye checks will help the diabetes patients from developing blindness from diabetic retinopathy, a common complication in people with diabetes and - sadly - a common cause of blindness in the developing world. Some facts about diabetes and El Salvador El Salvador is geographically the smallest country in Central America. Out of a population of 6.9 million people, 309,000 have diabetes. A third of the Salvadorians live below the poverty line. Not being able to buy insulin and other essential medicines is one of the main reasons why people with diabetes have poor diabetes control. The common affordable foods are oily, sugary or starchy and calorie-dense, and are easily available and cheaper than fruits and vegetables, which are out of reach for poor people in Latin America. If they grow vegetables themselves, they usually put these up for sale at the market. When poor eating habits are linked with a lack of physical exercise and lack of knowledge about the causes of diabetes, the road is paved for developing type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Poverty, inadequate knowledge of diabetes and its complications, poor food habits and all of these factors combined, play a vital part in the growing numbers of diabetes cases in Latin America, the continent in the world that will experience the largest increase, i.e. 102%, in diabetes incidences. From 2007 to 2025 the diabetes population in Latin America will grow from 16.2 to 32.7 million people. Read more Do you want to support this project or arrange a fundrasining activity? Read how to donate or contact: Administration Manager Benita Bertram

This page was last updated 1-23-2008 by taj.wdf