By Sara Leonard | Development Specialist - Grants
The HOPE Center in South Africa, located on the outskirts of Johannesburg in a township called Zandspruit, is addressing the burden of chronic diseases, such as diabetes and hypertension, affecting the South African community. The Center serves as a multi-purpose facility that provides clinical services, nutritional counseling, fitness facilities, and an education center – all of which aim to support prevention, early detection, and treatment of chronic disease in the community.
Over the last few months, the Center has served 1,244 patients and continued to provide critical screenings for signs of hypertension and diabetes, such as retinopathy (which is acute damage to the retina of the eye that can cause severe vision damage and, in worst cases, blindness). Fortunately, no patients were found to have retinopathy, yet over 10% of patients were found to have other serious eye issues – including a 21 year-old woman with a cyst on her left eye – which demonstrates the great importance of preventive care practices like screenings.
With your support, the HOPE Center was able to diagnose and begin treatment for 14 new patients with diabetes and 46 with hypertension. Thank you for your generosity and the shared commitment to decreasing the burden of chronic diseases!
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