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Although far more worthwhile causes exist than funds to support them, unlike many other health needs in Africa such as HIV, tuberculosis, infantile diarrhea and parasitic infections, very little government, NGO or philanthropic effort supports oral health or sickle cell disease.

Donate to Options for Children of Zambia

For example, the World Health Organization has defined oral health as  “a state of being free from chronic mouth and facial pain, oral and throat cancer, oral infection and sores, periodontal (gum) disease, tooth decay, tooth loss, and other diseases and disorders that limit an individual’s capacity in biting, chewing, smiling, speaking, and psychosocial wellbeing.” It has declared “oral diseases as the most common non-communicable diseases (affecting) people throughout their lifetime, causing pain, discomfort, disfigurement and even death.”

Similarly, in 2006, the World Health Organization designated sickle cell disease “a prevalent medical condition with clinical severity, contributing to the under 5-year old deaths on the African continent.”  Subsequent research estimated the under-5 mortality rate as between 6 and 15%, depending upon location. Put another way, 90 -95% of young children afflicted with sickle cell disease will die before age 5. By contrast, that same fraction of sickle cell disease children in developed countries who obtain diagnoses and appropriate supportive care survive into adulthood, and their average life expectancy is 50 years.

Nevertheless, other than advocacy, the World Health Organization and other bodies have done little or nothing to address either condition, especially in the remote rural regions where, as in the case of Zambia, 90% of the population lives on subsistence farming.

Therefore, by supporting Options efforts to deliver substantive help to sufferers of dental disease and sickle cell disease you help (to use a dental metaphor) fill in a huge cavity and are really “making a difference.”

Make a Donation

Ways to Help

Donate by Mail

Checks are payable to:
Options for Children in Zambia
 
Options for Children in Zambia
Attention: Donations
20 Dassance Drive
Foxborough, MA 02035

Honor someone special

Honor or remember someone special by making a gift in their name

Credit Card or Paypal

Use the form above to make your donation with your credit card or Paypal account.

Purchase for a Purpose

A special way to donate and get an immediate reward — purchase beautiful jewelry handmade in a rural Zambian village of Muchila; purchases proceeds benefit village women!

Examples of what your donations could help purchase

Dental Care

Portable dental unit
$5.000

Dental supplies
$700 per trip

Mission transportation & accommodations
$3,000 per trip

In-country coordinator
$6,000 per year

Support for Zambian Dental Training School mission outreach
$3,000 per year

Support for University Teaching Hospital mission outreach
$3,000 per year

Dental x ray machine
$4,500

Community Support

Beading materials
$2,000

Volunteer materials (instruction books, scrubs etc)
$1,000

Water Purification

Drilling one bore hole and install pump
$7,000

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