Who we help

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It goes without saying that the children, youths and co-workers of the neighbouring SOS Children's Villages take advantage of the services provided by the SOS Medical Centres. However, the vast majority of the patients are needy families either from the neighbourhood or from distant communities seeking advice and help. Priority goes to children, women and mothers. In the Mother and Child Clinic in Bakoteh (The Gambia) - Photo: SOS Archive The target groups for the individual SOS Medical Centres depend upon the capacity, the main focus of the treatments on offer and the medical staff and equipment. They also depend upon which illnesses are prevalent in the particular areas and which type of medical intervention is required. In most cases sick children are brought in by their mothers suffering from diseases resulting from under (or bad) nourishment and/or from deficient sanitary conditions. As well as providing medical treatment, the mothers are also given advice on matters of hygiene, receive information about nourishment, caring for their babies and family planning in order to prevent illnesses and to improve the family's standard of living. Furthermore some of the mother and child clinics help women through their pregnancies, assist with the birth and continue to offer care for some time after the birth. At the SOS Medical Centre in Kigali (Rwanda) - Photo: SOS Archive Another group of patients is made up of disabled children and youths. They are given medical and therapeutic support in special facilities and are aided in integrating into society. Most of the SOS Medical Centres offer normal routine examinations and medical help for diarrhoeal sicknesses, respiratory infections, bowel and skin infections, injuries caused by accidents, for TB, malaria and HIV induced illnesses, etc. If the patient is able to afford it, a small charge is made to go towards the cost of the treatment, whereby most medicines prescribed after treatment are given for free.