Referred to as an 'inborn error of metabolism', Phenylketonuria (PKU) impacts some 600 children & adults in Gaza and the West Bank. Untreated PKU results in cumulative, permanent brain damage and is life-threatening - but with monitoring, coaching, medical food supplements, and a low-protein diet, PKU children will lead full and healthy lives. Help provide the 'Food Farmacy', family health coaching, and clinic staff training to assure Palestine's PKU Community safe PHE numbers and good health.
Until recently In Palestine, children with PKU faced a horrifying shortage of medical food. Now both Ministries of Health and the U.N.'s Health Cluster made PKU care a priority, however, health care providers and parents don't understand the risks of standard diets and the role of medical food supplements. Normal blood phenylalanine, or phe measures less than 2.0 mg/dl but if PKU patients eat a standard diet, their PHE levels go way up, causing brain damage. A whole new approach is needed.
We ask your help to pilot a Food as Medicine program in Gaza and the West Bank. The award-winning Recipe4Health has 3 "ingredients" (1) Food Farmacy: PKU Patients will receive fresh produce (local, seasonal, nutrient dense) delivered weekly, (2) Behavioral Pharmacy: Patients will be assisted with transit to blood testing, receive group & individual health coaching including weekly PKU Mommy's Kitchen cooking show, (3) Food as Medicine training will be provided to healthcare professionals.
All the difference in the world, that's what your support makes for a Palestinian child with PKU. Now that the ministries of health and the UN Health Cluster are making medical food available to PKU families, it is critically important to assure their good health by drawing upon Palestinian specialists to train Palestinian doctors, nurses, and nutritionists while supporting PKU parents as they learn how best to feed and nurture their PKU children.
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