Non-communicable diseases the most common cause of death

OFP Outreach Nurse provides blood sugar screening in clients' workplaces

In a recent article, Canadian health care expert Andre Picard, writes, “For centuries, infectious diseases were the scourge of humanity…. At their peak, in the early 2000s, tuberculosis, malaria and HIV-AIDS killed about 6.5 million between them. Mortality from those diseases has fallen by two-thirds in this century. These shifts have allowed people in the developing world to live longer, and develop conditions such as heart disease and cancer. Seven of the top 10 causes of death in the world are now non-communicable diseases. We essentially have a silent pandemic of NCDs. But, because these conditions develop slowly over time, we don’t treat them with the same urgency as an infectious disease outbreak.”

For the past three years, BHP donors have supported a clinic operated by Oasis for Posterity that tackles these non-communicable or chronic diseases. Chronic illness is a growing problem in Bangladesh, the result of changes in diet, environment and lifestyle factors. OfP’s clinic provides free screening services for people suffering from hypertension, diabetes and heart disease. When patients need medical attention, clinic volunteers help arrange medical attention and for the ultra-poor, provide modest bursaries for transportation and treatment. During a site visit prior to the clinic opening, BHP directors John Richards and Alex Berland met with some of these patients to hear directly about their problems accessing care.

We heard about health care access problems directly from Balagram residents

As Picard concludes in his article, “New technologies, new treatments, and renewed emphasis on prevention can all provide new hope. But that hope needs to be more evenly distributed around the world.”