In Sierra Leone, diabetes is an enormous threat to life. Lack of insulin means that the life expectancy of someone who develops Type 1 diabetes is less than one year.

We are working with the Help Madina charity to organise a healthcare professional visit to Sierra Leone in April 2024. The visit will educate local staff on diabetes treatments. The group consists of:

• Dr Veronica Sawicki – GP

• Amanda Epps – Diabetes Specialist Nurse

• Helen Towers – Diabetes Podiatrist

• Elaine Allerton – Dietician

• Lisa Kelly – Project Organisation Associate

The cost of the visit has kindly been funded by a grant from the Transpetrol Foundation - so we are not asking for a contribution towards the journey.

This page aims to raise funds for diabetes resources desperately needed by Help Madina, including blood glucose meters, test strips, insulin, needles, footcare dressings, monofilaments to detect neuropathy and much more.

Thank you for your support. You will be able to follow our journey on our individual social media pages.

About Help Madina

Help Madina is a charity focused on improving the health and wellbeing of people living in the Madina district of Sierra Leone.

Dr Veronica Sawicki is co-founder of the charity, who spends 6-12 weeks of unpaid leave each year delivering hands-on training in Sierra Leone.

In 2008, whilst Veronica was working in a town called Kambia, she witnessed the death of a previously fit and healthy young man. He had developed type 1 diabetes and was in desperate need of insulin. With no insulin available, he lapsed into a diabetes coma. She could not believe that someone died simply because insulin was not available.

Diabetes is a global concern that the World Health Organisation has highlighted as an evolving catastrophe. The number of cases of diabetes in sub-Saharan Africa is rising dramatically and the complications of this condition cause enormous human suffering and premature death.

To help address these issues, Dr Patrick Turay, Medical Director of the Holy Spirit Hospital (HSH) Makeni – with the support of HelpMadina – launched a diabetes speciality service in April 2013.

New cases of diabetes are detected every week. The hospital now has a register of hundreds of people living with diabetes. There is huge concern and fear within the local community about diabetes and much misinformation - with some believing that diabetes is caused by witchcraft.

Thank you for all your support, please follow our journey on all our social media sites found here

DSN forum: https://linktr.ee/DSNforumUK

Lisa Kelly https://linktr.ee/lisakellylkott.com

Help Madina https://helpmadina.org.uk/