Busy clinics,

A few weeks ago instead of working from the orphan school clinic I was in Tongwa one of the villages where we work doing clinics for 3 days. 65% of our patients had malaria, but I did not get a single mosquito bite or even see one.

We had lots of viral respiratory tract infections, which the government clinics always give antibiotics for. We however give paracetamol and multi vits, as many are malnourished, if clinically they need abx we give, but there is very poor understanding and patients will often then take the medications home or to a traditional doctor who will mix it with water and then inject.
I was woken up on my second night by friends who brought a baby I had seen the day before, I had prescribed abx and malaria medication, yet his parents had not given them to him. He was suffering from croup now, and his condition had deteriorated from when I saw him the previous morning.
The question why haven't you given your sick child the medication, shouts from within me! I'm not sure why, but much education is needed. I saw some horrendous cases of STD's and am sure HIV is rife in these communities. We have received a grant to buy a CD4 counter machine which will enable us to do HIV testing in the villages and also start people on Anti Retro Virals. Nicky our HIV specialist will go for training in SA in how to use is in may and then we hope to start testing.
We advise many to go for testing but few actually go. I had a young man at my house for 3 days as he went through HIV testing and counselling at the government clinic. 3 days for us in the western world it would take 20 minutes.

The government clinics are understaffed and overstretched people wait all day to be seen, and sometimes have to come back the next day and wait. Things are slowly improving in the town but in rural areas there are no medical staff just witch doctors.

Sent from my Blackberry® SmartPhone on MTN Zambia

Let them see

At lake tanganyika a few years ago we were given thousands of second hand glasses and have run an eye ministry testing peoples eyes and giving them glasses for the past 2 years. It happened once a week and was not well organised. Since the start of january as a medical team we have sorted out an organised storage system and painstakingly entered the glasses prescriptions onto a computer system. The process now works very well and now 2 days a week Lewis runs the glasses clinic seeing upto 20 patients a day. The organisation of the glasses has enabled people to get the correct prescription and now demand has increased. Daily I have people coming to the clinic asking for glasses.
Sent from my Blackberry® SmartPhone on MTN Zambia