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A PUBLIC ENDOSCOPIC TOWER FOR COLÓN DEPARTMENT (ENTRE RÍOS): A HIGHER LEVEL OF PREVENTION AND A BETTER TREATMENT OF VARIOUS DISEASES
In Colón Department (Entre Ríos Province, in the east of Argentina), during 2007-2008, of 699 new cases of skin-basal-cellular cancer 108 were colorectal (15,4%) (Dr. Bechelli), though this information may be misleading since it does not register cases that started in the region but were treated in other places.
The project is expected to have impact over the whole area of Colón Department including the rural areas as well. Thus, taking into account the lack of right equipment in the nearby departments such as Concepción del Uruguay and San Salvador, it could have bigger number of inhabitants that could benefit from this equipment.
To have access to a good general hospital such as San Martín Hospital in the city of Paraná (capital city of Entre Ríos Province), the people who live in Colón Department have to travel about 260 km, which implies 10 hours the round trip if done by public transport. This discourages many people from preventive controls. In the Colón Department, San Benjamín is the best known hospital and it is located in Colón, the department capital city. Taking into account its level of complexity, this hospital is ready for going one step further by acquiring more equipment, but it certainly cannot afford it.
The main problem we face is the lack of proper equipment for prevention, diagnosis and optimization of the treatment of colon cancer to ensure and guarantee a better life for each of the members of our community with proper processes and surgeries. The idea is to strengthen all the stages of prevention and suitable interventions that will lead to decrease the number of disease processes and together with them their incidence in the loss of life quality in the inhabitants of Colón Department.
Our mission is, consequently, to contribute for the prevention, timely diagnosis and suitable surgery of preventable diseases such as colon-rectum cancer, for gastro-intestinal and respiratory tract emergencies.
The expected results are:
1. To get an endoscopic tower for San Benjamín Hospital.
2. To facilitate the access to better public health services to 21,520 inhabitants of Colón Department that do not have access to private health services.
3. To reduce the number of people that make up risk sectors and that do not make any health control because they lack free access to good quality health services by a 10 % during the first year.
4. To have an inpatient diagnosis, treatment and prophylaxis tool for all the pathologies previously mentioned.
The material resources needed are:
- Olympus ACTERA 150 (Endoscopic Tower Olympus ACTERA 150 + Bronchoscopy), which can perform an accurate upper and lower gastrointestinal tract endoscopy, a bronchoscopy or more specialized procedures because it integrates a video processor and a light source all in one unit. We also consider it has got a reasonable price for all the benefits it offers. More specialized procedures:
a. Colonoscopies.
b. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy.
c. Bronchoscopies.
Beneficiaries:
a. Direct:
- San Benjamín Hospital (Colón, Entre Ríos, Argentina).
- Risk sector of the population (people of 45 years of age and older).
b. Indirect:
- All the population of Colón Department, especially its 21,520 inhabitants that do not have access to private health services.
How will we measure the success of this project?
This is one of the strongest points since both on the public and private level there is a deep coverage of statistics about the different pathologies and the processes they undergo. This was precisely the reason why we have decided to carry this project out. At the same time, we are receiving an excellent database before obtaining the equipment.
Once the equipment is installed, we will take data provided by the Hospital statistics board, which is currently working and giving the necessary information to monitor the use of the equipment as far as analysis is concerned, interventions and the evolution of diagnosis and treatment.
Estimate of how long the project will take:
One year, including all of these activities:
A. Working with the Hospital authorities to agree on the project and equipment to acquire.
B. Finding out the cost of the equipment (different budgets).
C. Looking for possible financial resources.
D. Organizing events to raise funds (Ultramarathon 200 km Colón).
E. Formulation of the global grant project.
F. Investment, purchase and installation of the equipment.
G. Equipment start-up.
H. Supervision and statistical monitoring.
Total budget of project: USD 90,057.50
Existing contributions towards this project:
Colón Rotary Club (host): 30,000
How are we helping with the project besides requesting a global grant?
- With the aim of both getting funds and raising awareness about how important to control health regularly and make the necessary surgeries at San Benjamín Hospital in Colón is, our Rotarians agreed to run a circuit that joined most Colón Department towns and cities, covering a distance of 200 km on November 16 and 17, 2013. This was the ULTRAMARATHON 200 KM COLÓN.
We invited companies, other private and public organizations and people in general to "buy" these 200 kilometers; each of them cost a thousand Argentinean pesos (ARS 1,000). In this way, we managed to get an important sum of money (ARS 105,000) that will help us afford a percentage of the equipment we are planning to get. We also sold T-shirts and caps of the cause.
Since our Club has legal personality and it is tax-exempt of profit tax, we were able to give vouchers and certificates that evidence their help, so that it could be computed as a deduction in their tax settlement.
Furthermore, we gave the sponsors a CSR certificate and we added them to our Club's list of helper-friends that we will maintain and annually renew in our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/RotaryClubColon from this event on.
We were able to promote the important work of Rotary and all the activities were widely broadcasted in the local media, so our sponsors had institutional presence. We used banners, stands and other means of promotion.
Finally, the delivery of the equipment will be made together with a commemorative plaque with the name of all the sponsors, which will be placed at San Benjamín Hospital.
- Other fundraising activities will be done in the following months.
- Motivation: Our Club has an agreement with ALCEC and ALUCEC, organizations that have agreed to keep the community suitably informed about the use of this service, so that it can be used to its maximum potential.
Strengths and weaknesses of the community:
Our Club consulted public and private organizations, which are fundamental for this issue, to counsel about the incidence of the disease that it is aimed to prevent (ALUCEC, public hospital, Entre Rios Province Demographic Provincial Tumors - Dr. Bechelli, Zone 3 -, Health Ministry, local and renowned gastroenterologists). Data from the Health Ministry have been used as well as from the Nation's demographic census. Thus, through the fund-raising event (https://www.facebook.com/Ultramaraton200kmColon) that was organized by our Club in November 2013, a huge level of commitment and awareness was achieved. Beneficiaries, community members and companies collaborated with important donations.
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