The 10,000 Toes Campaign is celebrating a significant milestone—five years of helping communities in the South Pacific combat the devastating impacts of diabetes and other lifestyle diseases.
Campaign coordinator Pamela Townend said 10,000 Toes is now operating in 10 countries around the South Pacific.
“Five years ago when the 10,000 Toes Campaign was born, we dreamed that we would love to raise $1 million that could be used as seed money to show that whole-person health could help turn the tides on diabetes and other chronic diseases in the South Pacific,” she said.
“That dream is very quickly becoming a reality. Not only has over $1 million been raised but work has commenced in 10 countries around the South Pacific with recognition coming from the World Health Organization. We are also in talks with different government bodies as part of the rollout.”
Significant achievements over the past five years have included the first-ever Fiji Wellness Summit held last month at Fulton College and attended by 1000 people, the establishment of 24 wellness hubs, five mobile clinics, 2685 lifestyle intervention program participants, 1044 screening kits, upskilling of 392 health professionals and advocates, and the training and equipping of 5018 10,000 Toes ambassadors.
The next big project commences this Friday (October 21) with the first-ever Papua New Guinea Wellness Summit to be held at Pacific Adventist University. The three-day summit will include health checks and meetings with community representatives to discuss ways to make a positive impact on health. After the summit there will be training sessions for 10,000 Toes ambassadors with the aim of giving them the skills and knowledge to establish wellness hubs in their districts.
“10,000 Toes have been planning this event in Papua New Guinea for a long time and are thrilled to take the important health message to the community,” Mrs Townend said.
The 10,000 Toes Campaign is an initiative of Adventist Health with a mission to reduce the epidemic of diabetes in Pacific countries. Every 20 minutes an amputation occurs in the South Pacific due to diabetes or an associated lifestyle disease.
For more information and to support 10,000 Toes, click here.
