In the past I have talked a lot about our Village Savings and Loans (VSL) groups which I have been involved with for the last few years both here in South Africa and in Mozambique. I truly believe that if we are going to make a dent in the prolific spread of NCDs such as diabetes and hypertension we are going to have to start addressing the drivers of the epidemic.
Household disposable income plays a significant role in peoples ability to eat healthy, exercise and undertake preventative health checks.
Project HOPE has launched the VSL concept in our work in Zandspruit. The idea is that we will integrate this program into our Peer Support groups for our diabetes and hypertension patients once we have given them some basic patient education.
I am super excited to see how this approach will transform the lives of our patients and glad that you can share the journey with us.
-Stefan
