July 10, 2012
Donated medication helps child fight worm infestation
Ezera, 4, was suffering from intestinal worms. But like too many children growing up in poverty, he didn’t have access to the basic medication he needed to recover from his treatable condition. World Vision’s deliveries of donated medicine help to change that.
Story and photos by Simon Peter Esaku, World Vision Uganda.
Ezera and his father await treatment for the boy’s worm infestation at a local health center. If not for World Vision’s recent delivery of donated medicines, he might not have access to any remedy for his ailment.
Sitting outside their grass and mud hut, Ezera Odoi grits his teeth and rubs his swollen stomach with his right hand. It is evident there is something wrong with the stomach of this 4-year-old boy.
“I feel something biting my stomach,” says Ezera, who lives in eastern
Uganda.
The boy’s father explains that Ezera first felt the pain last year, and in the time since, he’s been taken to the health center on multiple occasions.
John Oketcho, a health worker who treated Ezera, recalls his course of action. “I suspected Ezera has worms,” he says. “The last time, I gave him three albendazole tablets to take, one a day for three days. I also gave him tablets of folic acid to take, one per day for 14 days.”
A life-saving delivery
The albendazole tablets, used especially for the treatment of worm infestations, were part of a
collection of donated drugs delivered by World Vision. Three government health centers in the area benefited from the distribution.
World Vision partners with pharmaceutical companies and other corporations, which donate top-quality medicines and supplies that our staff members can ship and distribute to areas where poverty often renders these items unaffordable or inaccessable — like Ezera’s village in Uganda.
Health workers in the region confirm that the drugs have made a positive impact on the health of people living in several of World Vision’s program areas.
“In fact, there were many people suffering from worms,” says Oketcho. “But when World Vision gave the de-worming tablets and we started de-worming children and adults, we now get fewer cases.”
Poverty’s crushing toll on sick children
John Oketcho, a worker at the local health center, issues a prescription of de-worming tablets and folic acid for Ezera.
With the government providing drugs to its health facilities only once every three months, the distributions of donated medications by World Vision contributes to better health for the rural families in poverty who must survive solely on subsistence farming.
“The government supply of drugs does not even last a month,” Oketch admits. “When the drugs are finished, we write prescriptions and advise patients to go and buy the drugs from pharmacies.”
Of course, very few families can possibly afford to do this.
Ezera’s hope
Oketcho says Ezera may be getting new worm infection. He adds that there are different kinds of worms that can infect children — flatworms, roundworms, and tapeworms, to name a few. Infection can result from poor hygiene, including unsanitary toilet use and using contaminated water.
“I advise Ezera to go for a lab test…for a correct diagnosis,” says Oketcho.
There is hope for Ezera. With deworming drugs now available, Ezera will recover once he gets the correct diagnosis.
Learn more
Check out this photo blog of children around the world who are benefiting from World Vision’s shipment and distribution of donated medicines and supplies.
Two ways you can help
Please pray for children like Ezera whose lives are put at risk because they live in poverty and don’t even have access to basic medicines and supplies that can help them heal.
Make a one-time donation today to help ship and distribute life-saving medicines and supplies to communities in need. Your gift multiplies 12 times in impact to help provide donated phamaceuticals, supplies, and over-the-counter medications to places where children and families are suffering.
Article Source:
http://www.worldvision.org/news/donated-medication-helps-child-fight-worm-infestation
You can be the hero to these children need.
Instead of buying sodas and coffees this week,
especially instead of buying cigarettes,
donate that money to save lives.
One of the best ways to beat the blues
is to help, love, and care for others.
Enjoy the feeling of knowing
that you’re doing the right thing
and making a positive impact.
Especially now,
when your gift multiplies 12 times!
$10 is like donating $120.
$50 is like donating $600.
Every hundred dollars
is like donating over a thousand dollars!
Blessings & Joy,
Dean
Please Note: I don’t know how long this special gift-multiplying offer lasts, but I do know there is a constant need for help in the world, so please don’t hesitate to donate. Countless lives are depending on you. Global problems may seem overwhelming, but if we all do our part, whatever we do will mean a lot to those we help. Like the man throwing the beached starfish back into the ocean, there were thousands upon the shore! An observer said to the man that he couldn’t possibly throw all of those starfish back into the ocean. The man agreed, but also said, “It sure means a lot to the ones I do throw back.” So maybe we can’t help everyone, but it will sure mean to those we do help. Hey! I wonder if that’s what
Michael Jackson meant when he rescued me and called me his little Starfish? See:
Is This Really The End?
