We are thrilled to announce that the Dutch National Postcode Lottery (NPL) has given our partner Solidaridad a generous grant. (NPL is the largest charity lottery in the Netherlands. Solidaridad is an international organization dedicated to responsible food production.) This grant is funding the launch of one of the largest-ever projects to address the Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) epidemic in Central America.
La Isla Foundation will work intimately with Solidaridad to execute a three-year strategy for alleviating, and hopefully ending, this fatal epidemic.
We cannot overstate the urgency of this cause. Over the past six years, La Isla Foundation has been a direct witness to the effects of CKD on the sugar-producing communities of Western Nicaragua. Thousands are already dead. 68% of men are sick in the most-affected communities. Social pressures are building around the issue.
With the robust funding of NPL and the generous partnership of Solidaridad, we resolve to continue reducing the CKD epidemic’s impact on health, while also addressing the social and environmental contributors to the disease. We will continue our tradition of working at the intersection of public health and human rights.
The proud culmination of this three-year plan will be a conference to bring together government, industry and community stakeholders. At this pivotal event, our programs, experience and knowledge, as well as the achievements of other organizations, will serve as the basis for renewed and intensified dialogue on CKD in Central America.
Our strategy is based on strengthening and expanding our four pillars:
1. Public Health: Facilitating and carrying out research into the disease to aid in its prevention, as well as improving access to care for those already sick.
2. Human Rights: Researching workplace compliance practices and providing direct legal services for affected individuals.
3. Community Support: Developing programs aimed at improving sanitation, access to water, and education that provides youth with alternative job opportunities.
4. Media: Engaging credible news sources and creating text, video and infographics that spread information about the epidemic to the rest of the world.
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We share this exciting moment with our current allies like SALTRA (English: Program for Occupational Health in Central America), CISTA (English: Research Center for Occupational and Environmental Health) at National Autonomous University of Nicaragua – León, Colorado University, the Karolinska Institute, National Institute of Cardiology – Ignacio Chávez, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, Michigan State University, University of Salzburg, Georgetown University, McMaster University, Pulsera Project, Manaaki Foundation, Birkbeck University of London, and many others.
More so than ever before, we look forward to collaborating with those who also wish to work towards viable and efficient solutions to the CKD epidemic in Mesoamerica.
We are grateful to Solidaridad for choosing to work with LIF on this project, and of course to the Dutch National Postcode Lottery for believing in it. We also thank the many companies and foundations, and the thousands of concerned individuals around the world, who directly supported our work during the past six years. Without you, our work wouldn’t be possible.
Finally, we are incredibly happy to strengthen our work with the people of La Isla, who live lives unnecessarily full of hardship, but also defiantly full of hope.
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