This project will bring nutritional support for a six month period -- July through December 2016 -- to sustain the lives of 200 children who are undergoing treatment due to rare diseases. It will also call attention to the need for increased international medical research to find cures for such illnesses.
Poverty around the world prevents the treatment of many diseases. This is even more pronounced with rare genetic "orphan" diseases which can cost tens of thousands of dollars per treatment. More than 6,500 rare diseases affect humans, of which only a few hundred have any treatment. In the United States, less than 5 percent of rare diseases affecting 200,000 Americans, have a possible treatment. in China, the number is between 10 and 15 million.
This project provides nutritional support as prescribed by medical experts who conduct the treatment of the 200 children assisted by Asia America Initiative. We maintain a grassroots partnership with the Philippine Society for Orphan Disorders who team with doctors and nurses at the National Institutes of Health. Healing, especially under dire circumstances, requires a combination and strong elements of scientific expertise and emotional support.
This program is an international model of donor kindness and a stimulus for medical research. Through their survival the multi-ethnic children supported by caring families and supportive organizations become beacons of hope. Socially, children in the Philippines who live in dire poverty are influenced by violent criminals and militant extremists. Despair is a constant companion. This holistic program can inspire entire communities to rise above life's challenges with kindness and love.
