One Day's Wages is proud to partner with Nyaya Health to establish Far-western Nepal's most comprehensive microbiology laboratory. ODW will match the $12,177 raised for a total of $24,354.
This lab will impact the lives of everyone in the community and specifically over 3,000 people a year will finally receive proper testing and diagnosis to help combat the deadly infectious diseases and end the harmful inaccurate treatment.
Who is Nyaya Health?
Nyaya Health (Nyaya means 'justice' in Nepali) is a non-profit organization working in Far-western Nepal to address access to quality health care to over 266,000 people. They run Bayalpata Hospital, a free 25-bed hospital with inpatient/outpatient wards, 24-hour emergency, obstetric and lab services, a pharmacy and ambulance referral. Their goal is two-fold:
- To provide free community-based health care in rural Nepal that strengthens the public sector.
- To develop and disseminate effective strategies of health delivery in resource-poor settings throughout the world
The Need
In Far-Western Nepal, infectious diseases remain one of the leading causes of death. Yet, there is no comprehensive microbiology laboratory available in all of Far-Western Nepal (a region of over 2.2 million people). This means there is no ability to perform culture tests or evaluate for drug resistance, which has led to improper diagnoses, unnecessary deaths, and crippled efforts at preventing and controlling the spread of infectious diseases. Nyaya Health examined the data for the 15 most common diagnoses, and 58% of visits were attributable to infectious diseases.
By building Far-Western Nepal’s first microbiology laboratory, over 3,000 patients per year will be able to receive accurate and effective treatment, and the development of anti-bacterial resistance can be averted.
What is the ODW + Nyaya Health Partnership?
ODW is partnering with Nyaya Health to help establish Far-Western Nepal’s first and most comprehensive microbiology laboratory. The nearest laboratory capable of performing culture and drug resistance testing is 15 hours away. With an average of over 2,000 visits a month, the need for infectious disease diagnostics at the hospital is tremendous. If approximately 1/8 of patients had a culture (blood, sputum, urine, stool or cerebrospinal fluid) performed as part of their evaluation, the laboratory would serve 3,000 patients yearly.
This matching grant will help purchase the needed laboratory equipment and one year of supplies (blood culture bottles, culture media, agar plates, antibiotic disks for resistance testing), and salary for a laboratory technician to oversee the laboratory.
- Establish a laboratory capable of providing timely culture diagnostics to outpatient and inpatients at our hospital.
- Treat at least 3000 patients per year using diagnoses from the microbiology laboratory. Over time, referrals from other smaller health facilities in the region will increase this number.
- Ensure rational use of antibiotics based on evidence from culture data, and the decrease in use of broad-spectrum antibiotics.
- Publish epidemiological/surveillance data on local microbiology of the region’s pathogenic bacteria as a means to influence government policy and standards on antibiotic use.
How You Can Help.
- Calculate and donate your day's wages. Simply, donate any amount.
- Give up your birthday and start a campaign.
- Become a Partnering Group (business, nonprofit, school, etc.)
- What's your idea? Start an Idea For A Cause campaign.
- Help spread the word. Share ODW with your friends & family through email, Twitter, Facebook, etc.
GIVE TO THIS PARTNER PROJECT
Our Pledge To You.
100% of your donations (minus credit card fees) will go directly to this project. As usual, we'll report back to our community about the progress of the funding and once funded, will report back with pictures, videos, and stories to convey the impact of this project.
