ACATA Village Health & Wellness Challenge beats NCD risks.

Amidst the gloom and doom of the rising burden of NCDs in Fiji, one village stood the test of time and rose as champions to beat the very risk that threatened their quality of life. The Vunimoli village, located some 15 km from Labasa Town is your average run of the mill village 22 households but with a will to address its own problems. The Action for Children and the Aged (ACATA) Trust Fiji, an NGO made up of volunteer doctors, Australian Red Cross Volunteer Nutritionist and Nurses and health advocates, in partnership with Vodafone Fiji Foundation and the iTaukei Affairs Board, carried out a health risk assessment of the village in March this year and investigated dietary and lifestyle patterns of the villagers. All village adults were also screened to determine the health status of the village. It was found that 40 % of the surveyed villagers had High Blood Pressure and 40 % had high blood sugar levels, amongst other issues such as thinness, high waist to hip ratios and unhealthy eating habits and poor lifestyle patterns. Outcomes of the screening were presented to the whole village and were concluded by a 3 hour health session by ACATA Executive Director and Vodafone World of Difference recipient, Rosan Lal, on the dangers of continuing the current lifestyle and how making small changes in their lives would not only save the villagers from early deaths and disabilities, but also improve the quality of their lives. The symposium, conducted under the guidance of ACATA medical head, Dr BP Ram, emphasized on eating natural foods, exercising, cooking healthy, nutrient content of local foods, importance of backyard gardens, heart health, ill-effects of sugar and processed food, ways of controlling blood pressure and liver health, food portions, carbohydrate intake and nutrient deficiencies. A village health & Wellness Policy was developed by the ACATA team and was launched on the same day to help constitute a framework to get the village health back on track. The villagers started consuming complex carbohydrates and made simple changes like eating brown rice instead of white, using whole meal flours, reducing salt and exercising amongst other things. All homes now have their own backyard gardens.

Vunimoli village also declared sugar, salt and oil free days, and set exercise regimes for all. We conducted an evaluation of the pilot project last month , 6 months after it was initiated and were delighted with the results. A drastic change in health indicators has been brought about the program, said Rosan.

The table below illustrates some of the positive impacts of the program: Indicators High Sugar Levels High Blood Pressure Underweight March 2013
(percentage of surveyed population)

October 2013
(percentage of surveyed population)

Difference

40 % 40 % 13 %

3% 10 % 3%

by by

92 %

75 % by 77 %

Turaga ni Matagali Naiyaca, Veresa Sadrugu, stated that the villagers were elated at the improvement of the quality of life brought about by the program. Some of the villagers who could not walk for half an hour without resting now cut cane the whole day and everybodys confidence level and spirits are up There are lesser visits to the hospitals and children and adults are far much more productive than before. We are truly blessed through this program, said Mr Sadrugu. ACATA Trust Fiji is also the content partner to Vodafone mHealth, which has 34,767 concerned citizens subscribed. They are taking responsibility of their own health through mHealth symposiums, said Vodafone Fiji Foundation Executive, Ambalika Devi. We, at Foundation, see this as an achievement in social investment that has changed lives of the villagers which now can have multiplier and replicator effects to other villages in Fiji. We encourage societal engagements to educate and make a difference in the lives of the ordinary citizen, said Devi. ACATA medical head, Dr BP Ram stated that, with the success of the pilot project, they plan to have the village health & wellness policy adopted at provincial levels throughout Fiji through tailored frameworks. This will also help ease the NCD burden on the country, said Dr Ram.