The Friendly Society reaches out to touch and help people that are unwell, people that are suffering from various diseases and the people that are living with various health conditions. We give priority to people that are unhealthy. Former director general of the World Health Organization Halfdan Mahler(1973-1983), elaborately defined health as “a personal state of well being, not just the availability of health services – a state of health that enables a person to lead a socially and economically productive life”. This definition is what guides us in determining what we mean by being healthy and if someone falls short of the mentioned health indicators, we consider them unwell and in need of help.
There are people living with various health conditions and some who are suffering from various chronic diseases that include HIV/AIDS, TB, cancer, sugar diabetes, malaria, stroke, at times cholera and malnutrition. They are in great need of proper medication, hygiene, diet and nutrition prescriptions that are demanded by their respective conditions. The Friendly Society intends to mobilize resources for the acquisition of medication and health personnel to attend to some of the sick. To most of them the cost of the required medication is prohibitive, that accompanied by lack of care and support at times from family members and the people around them makes life hard for them. In some cases when the sick are being nursed at home, the family members looking after them often lack the requisite knowledge and expertise to offer home based care to the sick. We want to offer support to the sick while equipping the people around them with skills and knowledge that will enable them to offer effective home based care to their sick relatives.
We are also going to make an effort to raise awareness of the various diseases to the public to help curb the spread of preventable and contagious diseases. The awareness campaigns are also designed to educate everyone on what to do if they find themselves in front of under a serious disease attack, someone. Most people for example have no idea what to do when they see someone under an asthma or epilepsy attack and neither do most people know what to do if a diabetic person collapses. In this light we will conduct First aid trainings in association with other partners that are experts in health issues.
