Health

SMILE-Sustainable Medicine Improving Lives through Empowerment.

SMILE is a Holistic Health Program that integrates Social and Economic Empowerment services provided by the organisation. This Holistic view is reflective of WHO’s definition for health “a state of complete physical, social (spiritual, financial) and mental wellbeing, “that ensures that all needs are given equal priority in the responses/services provided.

SMILE works on the notion that these needs have to be identified and prioritised by the communities themselves and the role of the team is to facilitate and empower these communities to address the necessary issues and therefore improve and sustain their own health status.

FRIEND carries out its holistic work by combining its Core activities;

  1. Health Education and Awareness
  2. Screening
  3. Regular Outreach Clinics
  4. Backyard Gardening
  5. Exercise programs which is complemented by the Livelihood programs that aim at Grassroots Development, Social Empowerment and Community Cohesion.

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FRIEND over the years has served more than 10,000 patients in the West (Nadi to Rakiraki) and the North (Macuata).The hope is to encourage lifestyle habits for disease prevention and better management of health.

The National (and Regional) Crisis of the uncontrolled increases in Non Communicable Diseases (NCD’s) and their complications has been the focus of SMILE for the past several years.

Diabetes has an alarming rate of 30% with 1 Diabetes related amputation being carried out every 12 hours. This is in addition to the Kidney, Eye and Cardiovascular complications this single disease entity creates.

These issues although overwhelming, does not deter the fact that any health issue needs to be addressed the same holistic way. Therefore, the need to address and prevent Diabetic Foot Amputations and its clinical and social complications has presented a need for a directed focus of SMILE program. Targeting one Non Communicable Disease holistically has the Added Benefit of directly improving the others as the Risk factors are interrelated.
SMILE togo video link, health pledge link, recipe links