shopping

This past week, I finalized most of the purchases of medical equipment and supplies to donate to ICE, the non-profit organization in the Galapagos with which I am working.  Thanks largely to a generous donation from Steve Kemler, CEO of Conversion Partners, LLC, I have been able to more than double the amount of donations.  And during this process, I encountered a few challenges...



Open for business? Cages such as this
may stop thieves but also really
hamper business!

 One of them was of course the language and the new (to me) names for medicines and common supplies.  That was easy to overcome with the help of my Ecuadorian medical contacts and Google translate. 

A more difficult challenge involved what to purchase.  Having studied medical anthropology in college, I know how often well-intentioned donations applied in culturally insensitive ways can be wasted or sometimes even worsen a situation.  And I also strongly believe that education can help to prevent problems, which is the best treatment of all!

So, with that in mind, I bought puzzles, blocks, number games, books, and other items to help stimulate young minds.  My friend and classmate, Juan Robles, sent me educational materials from his work in health education with Latino populations in the Bronx.  Part of my work in the Galapagos will involve education on the basics of diabetes, hypertension, and nutrition.  And I bought condoms, 1250 of them!



But a dilemma appeared as I investigated the costs of metformin, a widely-used (in the U.S.) treatment for type II diabetes.  Treating 10 patients for 1 year with a minimum dose of metformin would cost $800.  Metformin helps to lower blood-sugar, but losing weight is recognized as a much better treatment.  And weight loss can actually save a patient money.  With that same $800, I can buy vitamins for pregnant mothers, exam gloves and condoms, educational toys, asthma treatments, hypertensive medications (weight loss and diet change actually help very little with high blood pressure, in contrast to diabetes), and a weight scale.



More supplies



In the U.S., overweight diabetic patients are counseled to lose weight but are given metformin as a matter of course.  Although our short-sighted and profit-driven approach to delivering healthcare will assure worsening problems in the U.S., at this moment we do not have to deal with the kind of medical-rationing that they face here in Ecuador. 





Mr. Cabdriver, does this vehicle have air-bags?

 Let's hope that educational efforts are successful!  I will keep you posted.  Another aspect of my work in the Galapagos involves a study that I must conduct for my school.  The details are still being delineated, but the idea is to measure the effects of these donations and the education I will be involved with, to see if there are positive outcomes.  Of course, a study like that will require many more visits to Ecuador during the coming years!