Today is World TB Day 2014!

The Stop TB Partnership joins 1600 organizations,

all committed to fighting a disease that is curable

but still kills three people every minute.

On World TB day e’Pap supports the fight against TB and recognises the critical role of good nutrition in the war against TB.

World TB Day, falling on March 24th each year, is designed to build public awareness that tuberculosis today remains an epidemic in much of the world, causing the deaths of nearly one-and-a-half million people each year, mostly in developing countries.   It commemorates the day in 1882 when Dr Robert Koch astounded the scientific community by announcing that he had discovered the cause of tuberculosis, the TB bacillus. At the time of Koch's announcement in Berlin, TB was raging through Europe and the Americas, causing the death of one out of every seven people. Koch's discovery opened the way towards diagnosing and curing TB.

Tuberculosis is a preventable disease. A few simple steps, such as cough hygiene, good ventilation in work areas, and preventative treatment to those at highest risk of contracting TB, can dramatically decrease the incidence of new TB.  

BUT, In Africa, TB is escalating out of control and drug resistance is now common.

•                     The association between TB and malnutrition has long been known.

•                     Malnutrition weakens immunity, increasing the chance that latent TB will develop into active disease.

•                     TB makes malnutrition worse.

It is estimated that, between 2002 and 2020, over 150 million people will become ill, and 36 million will die if there is not better control.

e’Pap was used in an investigation in the role of nutrition in the fight against TB and this is what John Heinrich, CEO, South African National Tuberculosis Association, wrote:

On behalf of SANTA, I would like to express our appreciation of the partnership enjoyed with HETN in the distribution of e’Pap to TB patients, their families and care workers.

The pilot project of 2 tons of e’Pap per month is proving highly successful. The greatest impact is being seen on very ill / bedridden patients. Reports from recipients indicate that e’Pap is far more beneficial than supposed enriched foods received before.

These e’Pap projects have proved most valuable and are well received. Their continuation and expansion is seen as one of the three major objectives of SANTA in the continuing fight against TB and HIV/AIDS - namely Nutrition, Awareness and Directly Observed Therapy (DOTS). SANTA is in no doubt that improved nutrition can revolutionise the fight against both TB and HIV/AIDS.

In 2011 a research team from Wits Medical School, conducted a study on the impact of e’Pap on TB. Despite the short period of intervention, significant improvements in key micronutrient levels, well-being, lean body mass, energy, hand-grip strength, and clinical indicators were measured. The research is internationally published in PLOS ONE. http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0055544

e’Pap can make the difference.

Help the TB affected with the 29 micronutrients in a bowl of e’Pap every day.

If you want to read more about TB and diet, this article will help you. 

 

Mary is five years old and lives in Africa. A community health worker helped her realize that her persistent cough may be TB. Watch this video to learn about Mary's story and the challenges of childhood TB.

e'Pap newsflash

THE BEST E'PAP PICS OF THE WEEK

 A local church based organisation is providing e'Pap to handicapped children and young adults living at home.  We met with the parents this week to get some feedback and we had some wonderful stories.  One excited father told us for the first time in a long time his son has the energy to help with chores at home.  Many parents spoke of improved skin, positive weight gain and better attention spans.  But the best part of the day was seeing how these kids love their e'Pap.  

 

E’PAP SCHOOL UPDATE

We had this e mail in from Gill Dudman who has been helping the Grade 7 examination classes at Ntunungwe School, near to Figtree…..

“We fed our last Grade 7s e'Pap every day right up until they finished writing their national exams in October. There were 2 classes of 30 Children each and on the whole they were a below average group. We were not expecting them to achieve great things. This was not altogether their own making as they were the victims of Zimbabwe's very dark days.  The Children surprised us all and achieved the 5th best overall results in the district. My contention is that a lot of this was due to the fact that they were well nourished and their teachers were amazing.

I would very much like to start feeding this year's Grade 7s as of now. There are 30 of them and they seem to be a very keen group. The Children start school at 6 in the morning and giving them something to eat early on in the morning would be ideal. The problem is that at present money is very tight and I don't know anyone that well at any of the schools in Bulawayo.  I have asked one of our donors to consider supporting this but she is yet to come back to me.”

e’Pap sends a huge congratulations to the 2013 Grade 7 class of Ntunungwe School for these fantastic results. If there is anyone who can help the school in any way please contact us and we will put you in touch with Gill.

NEW E’PAP AMBASSADORS - CYVAT

Talking to Home Based Care Givers about e'Pap in Binga

Christian Youth Volunteers Association Trust (CYVAT) have been appointed new e’Pap ambassadors and will be working with communities in Maphisa, Binga, Lupane and Chegutu as part of their objective to “help deprived, excluded and vulnerable children and youth to have the capacity to become better citizens of tomorrow and to be leaders who can bring lasting and positive change in their communities.” 

They will be using e’Pap as part of their income generation programme and of course to create healthy communities that are empowered to solve their own problems.  We welcome them to the e’Pap team and we love what they do!   

 

CYVAT represented e’Pap at the recent Careers Day in Binga and they served e’Pap to a throng of Binga students and teachers.  Binga is a vastly marginalised community in Zimbabwe, with poor infrastructure and a multitude of problems, yet they have running through their area the great Zambezi River.

The happy story at the careers day is the one of Binga born Chiza Ngachize Mwinde.  She is on her way to study at  Smith College, a top women’s college in the United States with a full scholarship.  After receiving exceptional passes in her O levels, she participated in the United States Achievers Program (USAP), an initiative of the United States Embassy Education Advising Centre designed to assist academically gifted but economically disadvantaged students. 

e’Pap Zimbabwe says well done Chiza and we look forward to you coming home to help build our country.

E’PAP AND THE AGED

We welcome Bulawayo Help Network to e’Pap who are now supplying it in food baskets to the elderly.  

The problem is that the elderly suffer the consequences of shrunken stomachs which results in a low intake of micro nutrients (vitamins and minerals).  A number of factors can put elderly people at risk of becoming malnourished. These may partly be due to the physical consequences of growing old and partly to social and economic factors.  These include difficulties with chewing and swallowing, illness, financial problems, difficulty preparing and cooking food, decreased absorption of some nutrients and the side-effects of medication.  In addition, some older people may simply lose interest in food - for example, if they live alone, have suffered bereavement or are unwell.

A meal portion of e’Pap contains the full recommended daily allowance of the most important vitamins and minerals needed every day.

E’PAP GOES RETAIL IN BULAWAYO

e’Pap is now available across Bulawayo at the Choppies and Tilu’s chains and Farm Fresh, as well as Plus Two Pharmacy, Greenvale Supermarket, the Pantry and Gordons Hillside.  

For the past few weeks the e’Pap team has been running promotions at full tilt in all the new stores and it has been somewhat hectic, but also huge fun.  Our team has gone beyond expectation in their enthusiasm for e’Pap - but it is really no wonder given that they and their families have been eating it daily for a year now, so they know first-hand how amazing the benefits are.    Each individual in the team has been fantastic, but Ambrose, from Binga, is definitely the star nutrition preacher who really gets the crowd going.

E'PAP SUPPORT FOR HEADS OF CHILD HEADED HOUSEHOLDS

For the launch programme we also employed four interns from Vanhavevu Trust (Children of the Soil), a wonderful programme that educates, empowers and uplifts the young heads of child-headed households.  

Brighton, Jeffrey, Gugu and Sipha went into the streets of Nkulumane, Nketa, Pumula, Entumbane and downtown Bulawayo, putting their entrepreneurial and marketing skills to the test.  They were punctual, confident, organised and totally engaged and it is such a pleasure to see them bringing good health into communities.  

The promotions finish this week in Bulawayo, and we will soon be announcing the winners of the t shirt competitions!

We are currently updating the list of the e’Pap retail outlets so you all know where to get your daily dose of health in a plate!