Advanced Care Products Ltd in partnership with Bayer Diabetes Care runs the 'Making a Positive Difference' programme to help people with diabetes
in developing countries. You can make a valuable contribution to this programme simply by using your Bayer blood glucose meter.
In many developing countries basic treatments for diabetes are poor or almost non-existent. As someone who has diabetes, you can help by simply returning your blood glucose test strip pack tops through the ‘Making a Positive Difference’ scheme. For every 5 pack tops you return, Bayer Diabetes Care donates 25 blood glucose test strips to projects in Africa. As an extra bonus, returning a total of 20 pack tops will result in a total of 125 strips being donated.
These test strips play a vital role in supporting healthcare projects in developing countries.
How Can Blood Glucose Strips Help?
All over Africa, hypoglycaemia or low blood glucose is common in seriously ill, young children with diseases such as severe malaria or severe malnutrition. Without being able to test for blood glucose, the medical staff have no way of diagnosing hypoglycaemia. Now, with the help of the ‘Making a Positive Difference’ scheme, the patients can be tested and the appropriate treatment can be initiated.
Since the programme was started in Mali in July 2006, the mortality rate in Sikasso's paediatric ward has fallen from the normal levels of 15-20% down to 6-8%. This equates to over 20 lives saved every month thanks to the test strips donated by the ‘Making a Positive Difference’ scheme.
Who Has the Program Helped?
The ‘Making a Positive Difference’ scheme has been running since 2002 and since then we have sent out over 200,000 test strips for use in clinics and hospitals in Africa. The first recipient was a new clinic set up to treat people with diabetes in Beira, Mozambique. Its main aims were to facilitate the training of medical students, to support the continuing programme of further education for the hospital staff and to provide low maintenance and durable materials to improve the standard of care and the environment of the clinical areas. The clinic treats diabetes, malaria and TB. Specialist nurses and technicians are being trained, and some of them have visited the Ipswich Hospital in the UK to work for a time alongside NHS staff.
As the scheme has gathered momentum, we have added other charities to the list of recipients. They include the Sikasso hospital in Mali and a new mother and baby unit at the provincial hospital in Bamenda, Cameroon. Additionally, test strips are being donated through the charity 'Intercare which is UK based but supplies over 90 clinics all over Africa with medicines.
How Can You Help?
Just collect the packet tops from Breeze2 or Contour test strips and send them to us here at Advanced Care Products Ltd. We will then send you the latest newsheet and another stamped addressed envelope for further returns. If you would like us to send you an SAE for your first batch of packet tops then please email us.
Thank you for your support. To view past newsletters please click here.
Advanced Care Products Ltd
6 Chalfont Square
Old Foundry Road
Ipswich
IP4 2AJ
Telephone 01473 219 220