Chronic illness management

Another very important issue is chronic illness management. Once again, it requires a lot of money, time and health care professionals. This is the case not only in developing countries but also in many orphanages in industrialized countries. Looking after children who suffer from chronic health conditions is very problematic due to a shortage of supplies. These children require very special healthcare that our foundation wants to provide for them.

 

Chronic condition

A chronic condition is a human health condition or disease that lasts for a long period of time or that develops over a long period of time. Disease is usually called “chronic” when its effects last longer than three months. Such diseases as arthritis, asthma, cancer, COPD, diabetes and HIV/AIDS belong to the group of common chronic diseases.

The opposite of “chronic” is referred to, in medicine, as “acute.” It is also worth distinguishing between chronic course and recurrent course. Recurrent course diseases are characterized by repeated relapses of the disease with periods of remission in-between.

Most non-communicable diseases are chronic illnesses but they are a separate group because of their non-infectious causes. The word “most” in the previous sentence underlines the fact that it is not a rule. For instance, HIV/AIDS is caused by transmissible infections, but it still remains in the group of chronic diseases.

It is estimated that every year chronic diseases take the biggest number of lives around the globe. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports chronic diseases as a major cause of mortality. In  2005, chronic non-communicable conditions caused over 60% of all deaths.

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Developmental issues

Developmental disability belongs to the group of severe chronic conditions. It is characterized by mental and/or physical damages. Different developmental disabilities cause a vast range of difficulties in particular areas of life, mainly mobility, language, learning, self-help and independent living. It is possible to detect developmental disabilities early in a child’s life,  however, they last as long as the individual lives.

There are several more common developmental disabilities that include:
Fragile X syndrome (FXS)
Down syndrome
Pervasive developmental disorders (PDD)
Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD)
Cerebral palsy (CP)
Intellectual disability

The causes of developmental disabilities still remain mainly unknown. In a large number of cases genetic factors are involved, but scientists also highlight the environmental component.  Lately, however, scientists tend to put the blame on genetic factors, as over 1,000 known genetic conditions result in developmental disabilities.

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Health care in chronic conditions

Chronic care management is an essential issue when it comes to chronic diseases. It involves oversight and educational activities that are carried out by professional health care personnel. The aim of this special care is to help patients with chronic conditions to understand and learn to live with their diseases. Of course, it also usually includes the use of specific medications and medical equipment.

Medications, medical equipment and qualified personnel cost lots of money, and this constitutes a big problem for poor families, orphanages and health care centers that serve the poor. None of them have enough financial resources to provide children with all the care they need. This is especially true for children with developmental disabilities, who, in addition to their basic care, also need large amounts of time from their guardians. They need much time for education to help them to develop to their potential. They also need a lot of love to help them feel safe and protected.

Once again we believe that with help from our supporters we will be able to improve the conditions in which these poor children are forced to live. Our aim is to deliver necessary medications to children who suffer from chronic diseases. These medications will ease their pain and make the disease more bearable. We also want to equip health care centers with necessary instruments so that chronically ill children can benefit from the new equipment in terms of diagnosis and on-going or in-depth treatment. Our financial donations may also help to employ more staff, which equals more attention for each child.

We hope that Aid for Orphans Relief Foundation is able to eliminate most discomforts that sick children in our targeted regions are facing, not only in developing countries but also in Europe and USA regions, where help is most needed in orphanages and at the Care and Education Centers.

 

Help needed

Just $1 per day is enough to finance a course of anti-malarial treatment for 30 children. This disease is highly treatable upon early diagnosis but can be fatal if not treated.