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Published: November 23rd 2007
My first day at the clinic has come and gone. The dichotomy here is so deep. The clinic is part of an outreach project funded by multiple sources and primarily staffed by US doctors. You should check out the website www.bayloraids.org for more details on what they are doing around the world. This clinic is better equiped than the clinic I work in back in Atlanta. Each exam room has a computer on which the docs can access the electronic medical record on every patient they see. Upstairs there is a computer room, library, and conference room. Clearly Baylor has resources.
In stark contrast is the neigboring hospital. Outside you see women washing the sheets for the cribs and beds. Women and babies lay in rusty cribs/beds. The hospital serves approx 300 kids. A large quantity of the kids are admitted for malnutrition. We actually just admitted a 3 1/2 month old baby that was about the size of a newborn. I've been told that they try to avoid giving IV fluids to the infants because there are no IV pumps to regulate the amount of fluid going into their bodies. Essentially, the kids would get fluid overloaded and die. The baby boy we admitted also needs daily antibiotics because of his fever. We had to tell the mother to remind the nurses to give the baby his dose daily. The hospital is so overcrowded at this time that there are kids literally laying on the floor because there are not enough beds. There is a high dependency unit which is equivilent to an ICU in that there is essentially 1 on 1 nursing. However, there are no ventilators. So basically if you stop breathing that's it. I was told that if the child was big enough to go to the adult ICU they could be put on one of the few ventilators there. But in reality, there is no room for the heroic meausres that we do for kids in the States. Often times, people will die purely because of lack of resources. It happens everyday secondary to lack of access to the basics. It's not right. The kids in the States are no better. It's just geography and politics. Throw being poor into the mix and the prognosis just gets worse. That's a universal truth.
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Kofi
non-member comment
Intriguing
DeeRich, thanks for the update and painting such a vivid picture of what's happening over in Malawi. Thank God for granting you safe travels. Your efforts and Baylor's are quite inspirational. Keep up the great work and our prayers are with you. Make sure you take some time to enjoy the rich culture and the people of Malawi. Blessings !!!