THE CHALLENGE

 

The World Health Organization (WHO) has described burn injuries as the forgotten global public health crisis. An estimated 180 000 deaths every year are caused by burns. The vast majority occur in developing countries where the rate of child deaths are estimated to be 7 times higher than in high-income countries.

Non-fatal burn injuries are a leading cause of morbidity, including prolonged hospitalization, disfigurement and disability often followed by stigma and rejection.

Females have slightly higher rates of death from burns compared to males, and along with adult women, children are particularly vulnerable to burns. Burns occur mainly in the home and workplace. Community surveys in Ethiopia reveals that 80-90% of burns occur at home, where women and children usually are burned in domestic kitchens due to hot liquids or flames whereas men are most likely to be burned in the workplace due to fire, scalds, chemical and electrical burns.

On the bright side, burns are preventable. Whereas high-income countries have made considerable progress in terms of prevention strategies, most of these advances has been incompletely applied in LMIC countries. (Source: WHO)

 

OUR MISSION

 

Provide burn victims with proper treatment in the East African region

Burns left untreated can potentially leave a patient with few hopes in life – especially in the developing parts of the world. A burn injury can be life threatening. Surviving a burn injury may leave a person with different degrees of debilitating handicaps. Many burn victims will end up spending weeks and months and lots of money at local hospitals with no real chance of improvement as proper surgical treatment is out of reach or non-existent.
Through CBWCF the majority among our patients are getting up-to-date treatment for free. There are no selection criteria. Read more

 

Educating health personnel

One of our main objectives has been to provide caregivers with proper training to be able to handle burns. Treating burns can be challenging. CBWCF has been heavily involved in educating plastic surgeons and nursing and physiotherapy personnel preferably in their local environment. Training of anesthesia personnel will be part of the Foundation’s objectives from 2024. Read more

 

Burn prevention

Burn injuries are a major challenge to many low- and middle income countries. Peoples educational level and standard of living are important risk factors. Our foundation aims at reaching the local communities with educational material focusing on preventive measures, but also how to provide first aid once the accident has happened. CBWCF is also engaged in local production of a specially designed cooking stove which will dramatically reduce burn related injury rates and disease. Read more

 

For WHOs basic guidance on first aid for burns, click here