Tripoli, 9 August 2013:
A Canadian charity has stepped in to help give Libyans suffering from incontinence greater independence and reduced chances of infection.
Vancouver-based ‘BC Camp for Libya’ has sent three cases containing 160 external catheter kits for men to Misrata, Benghazi and Tripoli. The kits have been distributed directly to patients, to avoid them being caught up in any bureaucratic delays in the country’s healthcare system.
Each kit contains a male external catheter, a leg bag, tubing, sterile gauze, protective barrier wipes and adhesive remover wipes. Each one can help a patient for up to six months.
“This kit will allow many people with urinary incontinence to have somewhat of a relatively normal life and some degree of independence,” Vancouver-based doctor and volunteer, Osama Gusbi, told the Libya Herald.
He explained that the more commonly-used internal Foley catheters are difficult to use and increase the risk of patient infection. Other patients suffering from incontinence rely on using adult nappies which, Gusbi said, can be “unhygienic and socially unappealing.”
The external catheters sent from Canada will offer patients an alternative. They can also be used during the night, reducing patient dependency on care-givers.
‘BC Camp for Libya’ was set up by ex-patriates living in Canada after the start of 17 February Revolution. It has made seven deliveries of donated medical equipment to Libya, including a container that has been held at Tripoli Port for over a year by bureaucratic procedures.
Two further containers of donated medical supplies collected by ‘BC Camp for Libya’ are now waiting to be shipped from Canada. [/restrict]
