IMPACT Foundation
Actor and comedian Ade Edmondson makes an appeal on behalf of the IMPACT Foundation, a charity dedicated to preventing and treating needless disability worldwide.
Actor and comedian Ade Edmondson makes an appeal on behalf of the IMPACT Foundation, a charity dedicated to preventing and treating needless disability worldwide.
IMPACT works in countries in Africa and Asia, 'taking the hospital' to people whose lives can be transformed through medical care or surgery for all-too-common disabilities such as deafness, blindness and brain damage. In India, IMPACT uses the Lifeline Express, a hospital in a train which travels the length of the country providing free operations to poor men, women and children.
Father of three Manohar has been blinded by cataracts for 17 years. He knows that there is a simple surgical fix, but he's too poor to afford it. The surgeons on the hospital train give him back not only his sight but also his ability to support his family.
Over the years, IMPACT has devised ingenious means to reach people without access to healthcare, such as a floating hospital which travels the rivers of Bangladesh and a sterile tented operating theatre which serves the mountainous regions of Nepal. They have performed over 850,000 operations around the world to reverse needless disability, transforming many lives in the process.
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Donate to IMPACT Foundation
Or write to:
IMPACT
151 Western Road
Haywards Heath
West Sussex
RH16 3LH
If you want to donate by phone then callÌý01444 457080.
Ade Edmondson
But imagine living somewhere without access to medical care. Imagine you're living with a disability that means you can no longer look after yourself or your family. You know that there's a really simple solution, but you can't afford it.
Well let me introduce you to IMPACT - a brilliant charity on a mission to alleviate disability by some really extraordinary means. They have devised innovative ways of bringing life-changing treatment and surgery to disadvantaged people all over the world. Whether it's a hospital train travelling the length and breadth of India, a floating hospital sailing the rivers of Bangladesh, or a tented operating theatre on the mountain sides of Nepal.
The thing I like most about IMPACT is that it's so straightforward. They take easily curable disabilities, like cataracts and cleft palate, and they fix them on the spot. And this transforms people's lives.
But IMPACT's work costs money. If you think that no one's life should be held back by a simple medical condition that you or I would get fixed with ease, then please be generous and donate today.
IMPACT Foundation
Ìý
15% of the world’s population are disabled, 80% live in developing countries.Ìý Most were not born disabled and live with a condition which could have been prevented or could be treated. The IMPACT programme, across 11 countries of Africa and Asia, prevents and treats needless disability; improves health; and as a consequence, alleviates poverty. Ìý
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IMPACT’s doctors, surgeons, midwives and healthworkers ‘take the hospital to the people’ through innovative means, such as the Lifeline Express hospital train in India; the Jibon Tari floating hospital in Bangladesh; a tented operating theatre in Nepal; and a boat clinic in Cambodia.
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And mobile clinics in Cambodia, India, Kenya, Tanzania and Zanzibar take medical care to people who would otherwise have no place to turn in the event of ill health.
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Malnutrition, lack of clean water, sanitation and communicable diseases all exact a heavy toll in the developing world.Ìý IMPACT addresses this through straightforward schemes such as home gardens to ward off malnutrition; immunisation to protect against disease; medical and antenatal care to safeguard health; education to empower communities with skills and knowledge; and safe water and sanitation projects to avert the spread of illnesses which can cause disability and threaten lives.
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With your support we can transform more lives.
Manohar's story
Like 8 million other people in India, Manohar had cataracts. But he was too poor to get treatment, leaving the father of three almost blind.
"Before my cataracts, life was good. I used to run a food stall. But once this problem started, I couldn’t work properly. I couldn’t see anything at a distance, and even close up people’s
faces were blurry."
Manohar depended on his stall to support his family. So when his double cataracts forced him to give it up, saving for an operation became impossible.
Manohar’s story is frustratingly commonplace. Cataracts are a very simple problem to correct surgically by replacing the lens.
Thankfully for Manohar, the Impact Foundation has come up with an ingenious
way to reach people like him. They removed his cataract in an operation on board the Lifeline Express, IMPACT Foundation's hospital train.
"What the Impact Foundation are doing for people with the Lifeline Express, it’s the greatest gift in the world."
Prashensa's story
One of the families desperate for help was the parents of 8 month old Pranshensa. Her cleft palate has made it difficult for her to eat and maintain her weight. But her parents also worry about her future.
Prashensa’s parents brought her to the Lifeline Express, and she was one of 9 cleft lip patients being operated on in a single day, by plastic surgeon Vijay Kumar.
Her parents said after the operation on the Lifeline Express: "We are so happy to see her this way. The difference is obvious! Before the lip was noticeably split. Didn’t look good. My daughter is looking very cute."
Credits
Role | Contributor |
---|---|
Presenter | Adrian Edmondson |
Producer | Alex Steinitz |
Director | Alex Steinitz |
Executive Producer | Rush Shurman |
Broadcasts
- Sun 24 Jul 2016 17:00
- Wed 27 Jul 2016 12:00