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Published: October 26th 2012
While reading up on Malawi over the past few months, I repeatedly came across articles that said that Malawi was "the warm heart of Africa." And, quite literally, they were correct- Malawi is about as hot as a gorilla's anus.
But despite the overwhelming heat (it is currently about 110 degrees here), the people in Malawi are indeed as friendly and hospitable as any you will find in Africa. I am always shocked at how happy and accommodating people are in places where the average person lives off of less than $1 a day. We, in the states, could definitely learn a lot from this...
But I digress.
About a month ago, I was fortunate enough to land a gig working as a Health Systems Coordinator (and videographer) for the global health organization, Partners In Health, in Malawi. For those who aren't too familiar with PIH, the organization (which is based in Boston) works to provide healthcare services free of cost to the poorest of the poor around the world. While many skeptics have questioned the sustainability of the PIH "model," the organization has nevertheless succeeded in providing basic healthcare services to people in areas as remote as
PIH doctors...
...tending to a boy with cerebral malaria.Haiti, Lesotho, and Rwanda for the past 25 years.
In 2007, PIH was invited by the Ministry of Health of Malawi to revitalize the healthcare system in the country...and for good reason. The country is the 8th poorest country in the world and, even for sub-Saharan Africa, the healthcare statistics in the country are abysmal. The HIV prevelance rate in Malawi (>15%) is over twice as large as the regional rate, and the climate/geography of the country also makes people highly susceptible to malaria and other tropic diseases. Due to these factors, as well as a burgeoning maternal mortality rate, it is no surprise that the average life expectancy for men is a mere 44 years and, for women, 51 years.
When PIH first arrived in Malawi in 2007, it was tasked with rebuilding the district hospital in Neno - the poorest and most rural district in the country. Today, PIH has not only revitalized the Neno hospital, but has also built a new hospital in the village of Lisungwi as well as a dozen health "centers" in smaller villages in the area. Today, these hospitals and health centers serve a population of over 125,000 people, many of
whom had never seen a doctor or clinical officer before PIH's arrival.
While I am still in the process of wrapping my head around the many challenges that PIH faces (social, economic, and logistical...), I do have one story that I think exemplifies the "real" problem facing healthcare provision in the developing world. During my orientation, I took a tour of the Lisungwi hospital, which provides basic outpatient services as well as 24-hour maternal care and ART (HIV) services for the people of lower Neno. While in the pediatric ward, I met a boy who was suffering from malaria and was in desperate need of IV-quinine and/or blood. Due to a lack of infrastructure and reporting, though, nobody knew whether the hospital had IV-quinine in stock. About an hour later, I was told that the boy passed away. It was not until later that we were told that the hospital did, in fact, have IV-quinine in their warehouse, which was a mere 5 minute walk from the hospital.
It's situations like these that make healthcare provision in rural/poor areas so frustrating. Generally, many of the patients in these hospitals die of diseases that are completely preventable; but even with the help of organizations such as PIH, nurses and doctors often do not know what drugs are readily available and if they can be accessed in a reasonable time-frame. In these situations, what is needed is not more doctors or clinicians, but a general infrastructure and workflow that provides up-to-date information to healthcare providers when it is needed most. In the United States, we often take this "behind-the-scenes" work for granted; but in the developing world, this is the work that really can mean the difference between life and death.
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Love your description of the weather.
As nurses we found this blog fascinating. When we travel we always try to learn about the health care system in each country. Thanks for sharing.