Stop Hypertension and Diabetes in its tracks

Hello friends of HFANaija, 

Thanks for your continued support. Much thanks to our recurring donors. The work of maintenance Healthcare is unexciting because it is something that keeps people going day in,day out. Health For All continues to provide monthly services to individuals with Hypertension and or Diabetes. We check blood pressure and blood sugar. We provide health education to reinforce instructions about lifestyle factors that play a major role in Hypertension and Diabetes. We provide enough medications to last until the next monthly clinic. 

The participants are always very appreciative of the services for a few different reasons, including the feeling of better health, the health education to help them remain healthy, and the free services. Many of the participants often express that the services is a major reason they alive. 

Your support makes our work possible. This year HFANaija hopes with your help, to also gift each participant the equivalent of $10-20 as they go into the Christmas season.

Our challenge is to raise $1000 to $2000 by November so that the gifts will be distributed at the December clinic on the first Saturday of the month. This is a special appeal. Please share our letter with your network to help us achieve this goal.  

Thanks for your generosity and support. 

Sincerely,

Nkeiruka Ugo, FNP

Project Leader. 

Health For All Naija (HFA) has a stated mission of providing basic healthcare with specific focus on Hypertension and Diabetes. The service is so important because of the high risk of complications that affect almost every organ in the body. Due to the wide reach of complications of Hypertension and Diabetes, they contribute immensely to morbidity and mortality. Disease management approach by maintenance care is the most effective way to limit the impact of both of these diseases on the population. To this aim, HFA has continued to have Monthly clinics where participants’ blood pressure and blood sugar are screened, and participants receive monthly supplies of their prescribed medications.
Prior to each Monthly clinic, participants receive reminder by text message and phone call. Attendance at the clinics is averaging 73 for the first three months of 2022, out of the 115 participants who were confirmed in June of 2021. Attendance has declined further this year as the economic circumstances of the people worsen. How can anything compare with survival. What is the motivation for promoting health when a person is hungry, when they're unsure where the next meal will come from, or when they can't pay the dues to the local groups that will bury them when they eventually die from hunger? These are likely the things that are prioritized over coming to the clinic. These coupled with the fact that the local purveyors of medications only treat these conditions on as needed basis.
Possible solutions to the present situation to improve attendance include intensifying outreach efforts and Volunteer staff education. A third option is providing other incentives like money, or food and water to take home. Each of these strategies will incur additional cost. Our average monthly costs are currently about $500, for staff stipend, and medications. Additional $50-$200/month can fund different aspects of the strategy to improve attendance. The incentives, especially providing something other than the medications will be very effective in improving attendance.

I want to thank you for your past support. I look forward to your support in our efforts to continue to provide this different approach to disease management in the community we serve and the practice of healthcare in general. Recurring donors gives us confidence in our ability to continue this lifesaving work. Please consider becoming a recurring donor.

Sincerely,
Nkeiruka Ugo.
Project Leader.

Hypertension and Diabetes are chronic diseases that are managed, and maintained but not cured. The levels can improve and normalize by various interventions, but that is not a cure because the levels will go back up if those interventions are not consistently maintained.  

Health For All is there for our clients year round. Our monthly clinics serve to maintain the blood sugar and blood pressure at optimal levels to prevent disease complications. Complications of Hypertension and Diabetes are problems our clients cannot afford because of the lack of access to adequate care. 

We plan to devote more time on Health education to teach our clients about thses complications, highlighting the stories of some persons who are  currently dealing with complications like Stroke,  kidney failure and undergoing Dialysis, Congestive Heart Failure, and Peripheral Vascular Disease and ulcers. 

Happy Holidays to you and yours. Please consider adding HFA to your giving list this year. Become a recurring donor. Your donation helps to provide sufficient amounts of appropriate medications, screening materials, and stipend for the staff. With adequate funding, we can provide basic blood tests to monitor medication effects on the organs of the body. 

Thanks for your continued support. Your feedback let's us know we still have your support and also motivates our ongoing  efforts to improve our services and increase our reach. 

Sincerely, 

Nkeiruka Ugo, project Leader. 

Health For All Naija is continuing to provide needed care to the people of the rural community we serve in Nigeria. Our monthly clinic provides blood pressure and blood sugar screening. We provide 30-day supplies of appropriate medications for Hypertension and Diabetes to each participant. We serve about 90 participants monthly. Most of our participants' blood pressure and blood sugar are within normal range, an evidence that the medications are being used by the participants and that they are effective in controlling Hypertension and Diabetes.

After the monthly clinic on June 5th, we had a screening clinic on June 12th. The screening clinic was opened up to others in the community who were not currently participating in the monthly clinic, and we had about 120 attendees. We provided  blood pressure and blood sugar screening, Health education, and medications to all attendees. Hypertension and Diabetes affect all the organs of the body, and if left untreated, both diseases, either together or alone,  can lead to serious damage to the organs of the body, resulting in numerous health problems. A lot of these health problems are life limiting to affected people in the population. The health problems are life limiting because there is hardly any appropriate resources available to manage such problems. The Q&A segment of the event also reinforced learning among the participants. We distributed Multivitamins and Tylenol to all the participants. New enrollees to the monthly clinic also received 30-day supplies of appropriate medications. 

The screening brought back some people who were participants and stopped, and some first time participants. The clinic also provided an opportunity to evaluate and make necessary adjustment of participants' medications. We reorganized the screening logs to improve tracking of participants' blood pressure and blood sugar response to the medications. 

The need is great! The work we do saves lives, and keeps participants in healthy control of their Hypertension and Diabetes. The HFA monthly clinic is now a critical part of the community because of a lack of access to similar services and the lack of financial affordability of the services to the participants. We count on the generous support of our donors to effectively do this work and continue to stop the complications of Hypertension and Diabetes in its tracks! 

Blood tests to monitor effects of medications is an important part of managing both of these diseases. HFA has immediate needs to cover the costs of hiring a lab to do the blood tests for the participants. We can get the blood tests arranged in the next two to three months if we have the funds. The tests will cost about $15 per person, and we currently have about 105 participants who are enrolled in the monthly clinics who receive medications. 

Thanks for your support. Recurrent donors sustain the existence of our services. Please consider becoming a recurring donor. The cost of a cup of coffee a week, four cups per month, about $20, will go a long way. Donating is easy. Please click the 'DONATE' button to donate any amount. 

Sincerely, 

Nkeiruka Ugo, Project Leader HFA.

Health For All continues to provide monthly medications and screening to people with Diabetes and Hypertension in the rural community we serve. We continue to serve 85-100 people monthly at the clinic.

In addition to providing screening for blood pressure and blood sugar, we also provide health education to promote the health and wellbeing of our participants. This past month we also distributed cloth Masks to the 85 participants who attended the clinic. 

We are in the planning stages of a screening event in the Summer of this year. Summer here in America is the Rainy season over there. In addition to education about Hypertension and Diabetes,  Covid-19 virus and vaccine will be discussed in depth.

The attitude about the Covid-19 Pandemic is very worrisome. The majority of the people in the community and the country have little concern about warnings about protecting from the virus. People even ridicule others who try to use face covering. The resistance has shifted to vaccine with many people declaring they're not going to take the vaccine.  

The screening events in Past years cost about $7500 to organize and complete. This is where we need you, our donors. Every dollar gets us closer to being able to organize a successful event.  Please click on the donate link and support us. 

Thanks in advance for your generous support. 

Sincerely 

Nkeiruka Ugo

Project Leader.