Rising NCDs

Sierra Leone

A beggar leaving a Coca-Cola distributor in the city of Bo.
Stroke patient doing physiotherapy at Connaught Hospital in Freetown.
Treating a patient's leg wound at Masanga Hospital's wound clinic.
A daughter escorts her diabetic mother to the eye clinic at Connaught Hospital in Freetown.
A vendor selling sugar and other westernized foods at a street side store in Freetown.
Selling salt at the market in city of Bo.
A farmer takes a cigarette break in rural Bo District.
Customer picking up fast food to go at the Z-Tee Barbeque restaurant in Freetown.
Worker at a Coca-Cola distributor in the city of Bo.
Customers at a bar and restaurant in the city of Bo.
Patients at Masanga Hospital in Tonkolili District.
A diabetic amputee and his family return to the medical ward at Masanga Hospital.
Diabetic amputees do physical therapy at Masanga Hospital.
Stroke patient receives physiotherapy at Connaught Hospital in Freetown.
Stroke patient receiving a massage in the Physiotherapy unit at Connaught Hospital in Freetown.
Stroke and diabetes patients at the National Rehabilitation Centre in Freetown.
Diabetes and high blood pressure as well as “lifestyle choices” like smoking can lead to disabling cardiovascular conditions.
A fisherman gives a sugary sweet drink to his two year old daughter in the Freetown neighborhood of Aberdeen.
Promoting the western lifestyle in an advertisement for a new hotel and apartment development in the Freetown neighborhood of Aberdeen.
Exercising at the free outdoor gym in the Freetown neighborhood of Aberdeen.
Exercise class on the main roundabout in the Freetown neighborhood of Aberdeen.
Vendors at the fish market in the Freetown neighborhood of Aberdeen.

: A beggar leaving a Coca-Cola distributor in the city of Bo.

: Stroke patient doing physiotherapy at Connaught Hospital in Freetown.

: Treating a patient’s leg wound at Masanga Hospital’s wound clinic.

: A daughter escorts her diabetic mother to the eye clinic at Connaught Hospital in Freetown.

: A vendor selling sugar and other westernized foods at a street side store in Freetown.

: Selling salt at the market in city of Bo.

: A farmer takes a cigarette break in rural Bo District.

: Customer picking up fast food to go at the Z-Tee Barbeque restaurant in Freetown.

: Worker at a Coca-Cola distributor in the city of Bo.

: Customers at a bar and restaurant in the city of Bo.

: Patients at Masanga Hospital in Tonkolili District.

: A diabetic amputee and his family return to the medical ward at Masanga Hospital.

: Diabetic amputees do physical therapy at Masanga Hospital.

: Stroke patient receives physiotherapy at Connaught Hospital in Freetown.

: Stroke patient receiving a massage in the Physiotherapy unit at Connaught Hospital in Freetown.

: Stroke and diabetes patients at the National Rehabilitation Centre in Freetown.

: Diabetes and high blood pressure as well as “lifestyle choices” like smoking can lead to disabling cardiovascular conditions.

: A fisherman gives a sugary sweet drink to his two year old daughter in the Freetown neighborhood of Aberdeen.

: Promoting the western lifestyle in an advertisement for a new hotel and apartment development in the Freetown neighborhood of Aberdeen.

: Exercising at the free outdoor gym in the Freetown neighborhood of Aberdeen.

: Exercise class on the main roundabout in the Freetown neighborhood of Aberdeen.

: Vendors at the fish market in the Freetown neighborhood of Aberdeen.

A work in progress, this project looks at the alarming increase of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including diabetes, hypertension, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases, in the West African country of Sierra Leone. Once considered the exclusive worry of wealthy, developed nations, NCDs are now spreading across low and middle income countries at rates that threaten to undermine numerous other advancements. And while a majority of international funding and media attention are directed toward infectious diseases in the developing world (malaria, TB, HIV/AIDS, Ebola), the need increasingly lies with chronic NCDs which are rising at startling rates across these countries. This projects aims to portray the many factors contributing to this troubling increase in Sierra Leone, as well as the multiple barriers to care that problematize treatment and prevention.