AGRO-NORTE NGO

The objective of this project is to provide underserved patients with opportunity to have an early diagnosis and a chance for treatment. I would use the funding to acquire a mobile mammography vehicle to detact early cases of breast cancer.

A Mobile Mammography van provides services to under served communities. Early breast cancer detection saves lives. Women all over the Cape Verde Islands are dying because of lack of testing. The self-contained vans travel to different locations, providing clients with state-of-the-art digital mammography screening services. The van is staffed with board-certified, dedicated breast radiologists with experience in performing mammograms and reading exam results.

The Mobile Mammography will serve women and communities who currently are medically underserved because they have no health insurances. 

Greetings AGRO-NORTE is an association, located on the island of Fogo, in Cape Verde islands, working to improve the lives of community members, especially women and children.  

Our mission is as follow:

• to bring together different partners to work on common problems and find solutions leading to the empowerment of women; 
• to eradicate poverty in rural areas;
• to provide means that allow women to improve their lives economically and socially;
• To ensure that ordinary people have access to simple things, like the right to eat, essential public services like education and health care, and, to have a say in the decisions that shape their lives.
• to empower women in their community, in order for them to be self-sufficient
• to promote innovation and alternative solutions that may be brought to scale;
• to build a long-term sustainable program;
• to improve the living standard for the rural people in all spheres of life.

 We put women and children issues in a centre of our focus, fighting inequality and injustice.

We consider that gender is critical to understanding the causes of poverty and injustice around the world.

We work to support the poorest and most ostracized people to ensure they have their rights.

The Cape Verde islands experience a high burden of non-communicable diseases, the most significant being cardiovascular-related diseases, diabetes and cancer. According to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, in 2017, cancer was the second cause of death in Cape Verde (17.9%).

In Santiago Island, the Hospital Agostinho Neto  has a unit for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer which includes surgery and chemotherapy and treats most of the cancer patients because it is the only cancer centre on the island and the most important in the country. 

Medical facilities and adequate medical equipment are still a big challenge for the government. The healthcare facilities in Cape Verde are limited. 

There are not many health clinics equipped with high tech machines to detect the early stages a breast cancer and other pathologies.

Many people are dying from preventable disease because of lack of diagnose machines such as: a mammographer, MRI, CAT scan etc. Many are placed on waiting list for up to one year to be evacuated to Europe or America. 

Cancers amenable to early detection ensures appropriate treatment in order to increase survival rates, reduce mortality and improve quality of life; 

I propose to bring to the underserved communities of different islands these services in mobile health vehicles. These vehicles are equipped with the right technology and functionality to provide services in the community, thus avoiding evacuations and elevated costs to build hospitals. 

A Mobile Mammography van provides early breast cancer detection services to women all over the Cape Verde Islands giving them a chance to survive

We can contribute to save lives

We can contribute to end human suffering

We can maintain families united.