july medical camps 2007 (and the rain)
With the rainy season well established it was presumed the camps would be smaller, but this proved
not to be the case, the team seeing a larger number of pregnant women and children.
A total of 766 patients were seen across the two monthly camps.
Health Care Workers travelling to camp on motorised canoe...yes the boats have been stolen again! ( Oscar still smiling at the rear..'perseverance producing character'. Romans 5:v3) |
The first july camp ( 2nd -6th) took place in four communities Oboro,Okpokunou,Gbalegoro and Esama.
The community of Oboro can now be accessed by a road which has seen a drop in number of patients
attending our clinics, though still for many transportation costs are prohibitive. Over 50
patients presented with respiratory tract infections ,malaria,diarrhoea & vomiting, febrile convulsions and
a host of other infectious diseases
Being a smaller clinic in numbers, a respiratory teaching clinic for the health care workers was held,
examaning children with bronchopneumonia with loud crepitations and other abnormal breath sounds.
They took turns in listening to the chest of these children thereby identifying normal and abnormal
breath sounds
With the little they have been taught,they know that pneumonia among children has been on the
increase of late,and some of the cases seen have been fatal
One of the HCW informed me of how he had tried to intervene in a child with severe bronchopneumonia
but the parents had sought help with some quack,but the child had not done well because the parents
had refused his advice,but they later met him telling him they wished they had listened to him
Our next entry was at Okpokunou ,a bigger community than oboro and a community where our work is well appreciated.
Though the goverment road passes through this community,this is one of our pro active communities as the people here do not underestimate the free medical services that is rendered.
A lot of pregnant women were seen having their blood pressures checked and their urine tested.
They were also given their routine iron and vitamin tablets with prophylactic sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine antimalarial which is routinely given after 16 weeks of gestation
They are also given a lot of health talks on taking their routine tetanus shots They are encouraged to visit the government health care centres, and emphasis is also placed on exclusive breast feeding and complete vaccination of their children when they are born. To effect change the same messages have to be reiterated camp after camp.
We insist the women come with their government vaccination cards anytime they attend our clinics.
These camp ended with the rains coming down heavily in the evenings
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Native herbs to treat ear infection
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Nasty burn from a kerosene stove
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Gbalegoror, an Urhobo community was the next place visited on the 5th, where again the emphasis lay with maternal and child health. This camp was run in conjunction with the government midwife. Partnership with government is crucial given the size of the task in the Delta, and we are in discussions to broaden this alliance.
Boy with pneumonia
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Another chronic ulcer needing longterm treatment
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Another case in point seen in these communty was a child (above) with breathlessness, and
rich signs in his chest and other obvious symptoms of a chest problem,a very good opportunity
for the HCWs to try out their clinical skills
This child was immediately placed on injectable antibiotics and other drugs, to be monitored
by the HCW in this community, the outcome would be noted after completion of treatment,with
a report rendered on the doctors next visit.
Esama was the next community.Accessible only by boat the team crossed by an engine powered
canoe.
The town hall was packed with women and children.Oscar one of the senior HCWs
handled the adults, predominantly manual workers with musculoskeletal and arthritic pains.This was also an opportunity to check blood pressures and screen for adult onset diabetes and other conditions.
HIV/AIDS is an increasing problem and the access to retrovirals difficult. The patient has to travel to Benin for treatment and for most this is logistically and financially hard. Contraception and Aids awareness are pivotal strategies to combat this disease.
A total of 368 patients were seen during this camp.
The second camp ran from 23rd -27th , covering Ekogbene, Elohim City, Ogriabene, and Enekorogha.
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Ekogbene camp with volunteer community worker helping.
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126 patients were treated at Ekogbene
Throughout these communities we noted a very high turnout of pregnant women.
Our ANC ( Antenatal Clinic) has consistently exposed an alarming degree of ignorance surrounding conception, antenatal and infant care. A case in Ekogbene community was a woman who was in her 5th pregnancy.Her history revealed that all the children except for the first had died immediately after birth.After taking a careful history,it was noted that she had never been seen by a doctor,she had never been investigated. It was likely that this was a tragic case of heamolytic disease of the newborn. She was never aware of blood investigations or other investigations that are mandatory before pregnancy. She was counselled to visit the general hospital,otherwise she may well lose this pregnancy as well.
She was one of a cohort who had lost 5 or more babies.
Lack of medical personnel,empty health facilties,transport difficulties and costs , all compound to the problems. Ekogbene and these other communities lie close to the atlantic, not a very attractive region for transporters that want quick profit, and unnattractive for governmental medical postings.
Our next port of call was Elohim city,the latest addition to our camps on the river Ramos,Here the torrential rains hampered many from getting from the bush, though they came in trickles nevertheless.
A total of 67 patients were seen, a large proportion of respiratory and upper respiratory infections.
We left for Ogriagbene the next day,the rains a little easier.
We were afraid of a low turnout at Oriagbeve,because information did not seem to be circulated because of some crisis in the community
We were however proved wromg as a total of 74 patients were seen.
The last community seen was Enekorogha, a very needy community,very eager to recieve help
More females were seen here especially pregnant women,with a complete absence of tetanus immunization,and an increase in death among the children for tetanus. Immunisation again is a critical public health issue, and we are grateful to the State governement for recently providing cold boxes and more equipment besides the full vaccination schedule for our deployment in accordance with their guidelines.
94 patients were treated.
'I want to state that the increase in patient numbers we have seen from the community members is as a result of our consistency among the people who realize that we have come to stay and that our love towards them is genuine despite the fact that our engines and boats have been attacked and hijacked,we are still making progress'.. Dr Lawrence Oghumu
The loss of our boats again is not a major setback as we have been hiring transport for some months. Until secure accommodation is secured in the riverine area, which the Government have been assisting us with, it would be imprudent to purchase new equipment.
What is sadder are the self defeating actions these people bring to their own situation. At the core of actions such as oil bunkering, pipe line vandalism, piracy, theft and undermining of health initiatives lies a bedrock of selfishness and self interest, partisan agendas and fragile egos.
These trials serve to harden our resolve, otherwise, as always, it will be the innocent who will pay for these actions, and this we will not let happen if it is in our power to do so. As Christians we are constrained to continue to work out Gods purpose in the Delta, in service to His people so in need.
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Protein rich supper of grubs and rice....each to their own...
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