May report 2009

May has been a very troubled month in the Delta following the taking of 15 hostages from an Oil vessel by militants from MEND (Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta).

Government retaliation saw the freeing of the majority of the hostages, though fatalities were incurred and the scale of the reprisals against the militia bases resulted in significant numbers of people killed, communities destroyed and families displaced to Warri , the nearest city some 150 km away. The tension in the area has made travel difficult, but we have managed to get supplies to the Clinic and undertake our normal medical camps including a satellite camp at a more distant community by boat. After careful assessment and in dialogue with community councils we are to continue with preparations for the joint surgical and medical camp we have planned for next month, to run in partnership with Dr Emmanuel Akpo of Global Medical Missions and Dr Gloria Patrick-Ferife of Eye Care Health Initiative.

' It is nice to be back to the creeks,after the lovely time at Liverpool and with all the study of tropical diseases over there,I feel there is a need for evidence based practice,which we would try to demonsrate through this site .
After hearing of all the talk about wars from the military against defenceless villagers and not militants as is portrayed in the papers,I knew we were in for a series of epidemics,which might not be obvious immediately,but would become manifest as the weeks go by
On our side of the creeks where there are relatively few insignificant oil wells,there was no fighting,there was absolute calm and peace,people very close to me objected my going to the creeks last month for fear of a possible uprising, but I wanted to find out myself having witnessed tribal wars and fighting between the goverment and the tribes....' - Dr Oghumu

I was however surprised to find out there was a measles epidemic just before my arrival.About 3-5 yrs ago,the fatality from measles was quite high compared to now. I believe this is the result of immunization campaigns carried out by us and the goverment authorities in the last 3-4yrs.
We also heard about children dying from severe anaemia and convulsions in the last one to two months due to severe malaria (exclusively p. falciparum).

We are now in the rainy season,and this upsurge in malaria and measles is not a surprise. Continuing health education and mass immunisations are vital, but cold chain logistics, communication and effective record keeping make this a constant stuggle.

Child with Malaria

Antenatal teaching at the Clinic

At Ekogbene where we held out outreach camp all the women who had children or were pregnant have enormous  problems getting immunised. In a community of over 20,000 there is no trained health worker.

From my studies, the high childhood mortality in sub-saharan Africa is so often ascribed to poverty. I take issue with this as it seems that  poor strategic planning by central government agencies is more to blame, as vaccines and staff are in reality availble if properly mobilised. Poverty too is a factor that is so often man-made....

A total of 80 pts were seen in this community(besides the usual clinic attendees in Enekorogha.)
children-----48
female adults---17
pregnant women-----14
men-----1                                                                                        - Dr Oghumu

Satellite camp

The end of the month has been busy making preparations for next month's camp and ensuring communities are aware of the dates for each triage camp.

The beauty that is the Delta....