Thinking about Comic Relief today I’d like to talk briefly about technologies and procedures we consider to be extremely common place but in developing countries are rare and life-changing.
In Africa, one child in every five children dies before their 5th birthday - and many of these deaths are from preventable diseases such as malaria. Over 781,000 people die every year from malaria. That’s one child death every 45 seconds from something that is incredibly preventable – nets, testing kits and emergency drugs are the things that make the difference.
In Africa alone, 300,000 children under the age of 15 are blind, and when these children lose their sight there’s a 50% chance that they will be dead within 2 years. Yet 80% of the blindness that occurs in developing countries is from totally treatable infections. £5 can provide a treatment for trachoma – an eye infection that turns the eyelashes inwards, causing rubbing on the cornea and ultimately blindness – but can, unbelievably be treated with antibiotics or a simple 15 minute operation to the eyelid. We all know someone who's had their cataracts operated on - but although this is one the primary causes of blindness in developing countries and is relatively simple to correct, many people do not know how to get help, or even that help exists
It’s hard for us to fully comprehend these sorts of issues when we can pop to see the doctor, go to A&E or search for our symptoms and find advice and support online.
The great thing about Comic Relief is that it doesn’t only hand out malaria nets, antibiotics and kits – they aim to support the greatest change through improving primary health care - with improvements in both preventive and curative work - using funding to encourage the public and those in power to get behind campaigns to reduce the numbers of preventable deaths - particularly among women and young children.
Comic Relief funds organisations who work both with health providers and those who use healthcare services - as well as the voluntary and local organisations which often bridge the gaps between the two.
I talk a lot about patient-centric healthcare – and this really is an area where the idea of putting the patient at the centre of the process takes a backseat to simply making the patient part of the process at all. But by long term and considered investment, in reducing infant mortality so these children have a chance, training proper midwifes and local people to treat minor infections – we must be taking the first tiny tiny steps to levelling the playing field.
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