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HIV/AIDS in Jhabua and Alirajpur, Madhya Pradesh, India

February 27, 2010 in India by Real Medicine Foundation Staff | No comments

HIV/AIDS in Jhabua and Alirajpur, Madhya Pradesh
December 2009
By Dr. Fabian Toegel

The 2006 HIV Sentinel Surveillance data shows that the prevalence of HIV in Madhya Pradesh has remained relatively stable (0.17 in 2002 to 0.11 in 2006).   Though state-wide data suggest stability in HIV prevalence, cases of HIV in the Jhabua area seem to be on the rise.  At the project’s inception approximately two year ago, Jeevan Jyoti Health Services Society was facilitating care for 54 patients infected with HIV.  This number continues to rise, with an average of 6 to 7 new cases being identified each month (Figure 1).  A total of 175 patients have been registered as HIV positive in Jhabua and Alirajpur.  This increase in HIV cases highlights the critical need for appropriate HIV/AIDS-related programs in Jhabua and Alirajpur.



High levels of migration to high prevalence areas

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Much-Needed Rehab Equipment Obtained through Portlight.org

February 24, 2010 in Haiti by Real Medicine Foundation Staff | 1 comment

Port-au-Prince, Haiti
February 20, 2010
By Kevin Connell


Much-Needed Rehab Equipment Obtained through Portlight.org
We made a great connection tonight with a supplier from Portlight.org working out of Quisqueya University.  The school was shut down after nearly all of its building collapsed in the earthquake, but it is currently being used (along with the other Quisqueya schools) as a staging point for relief operations.
As mentioned in the previous post, our partner, Sacred Heart Hospital, has been inundated with amputees for weeks without the proper human or physical resources to treat them.  In our efforts to get help with supplies, one of our contacts here in Port-au-Prince Tweeted a request for physical therapy equipment (crutches, walkers, etc) on our behalf, setting the process in motion early this afternoon.
Two hours later through the help of Twitter users all around the world, we were sent word of Portlight’s supply of rehab products located less than five minutes from our location at the hospital and ready for distribution.  After a simple phone call, we had setup a time to meet their coordinator, Richard Lumarque, fifteen minutes later for pickup and were on our way.  With a little help from Google Maps, Mel (physical therapist) and I made it to Portlight’s depot at Quisqueya before sundown and were reviewing inventory with Richard for receipt.
Soon we had stuffed my small SUV rental from Avis full with a three-wheel walker, 23 walkers, some crutches, two boxes filled with platform attachments used for complex mobility needs and a load of neck braces.  The equipment was added to the supply room at Sacred Heart, set to be handed out to the 50+ Sacred Heart amputees who have been bed-ridden since January 12th.  Mel estimated the equipment to be worth roughly $5,000—a big score for the community at Sacred Heart, waiting to walk again.. and not bad for two hours of effort.
Many thanks to Richard Lumarque, Portlight.org, and the Twitter community for making it happen.

Mel with our impromptu supplier, Richard from Portlight.org

Mel and I after loading the car full of rehab equipment for her clients at Sacred Heart.

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Peruvians helping Haitians!

February 24, 2010 in General, Peru by Steve Henrichon | No comments

Its been a while since I have written on the blog.  If you dont know me, my name is Steve Henrichon and I am the RMF Country Director for Peru.  Things got a little hectic for me this past year as I started my first year of medical school at UC Davis School of Medicine.  Its been a challenge juggling school work and staying involved with RMF and with the clinic in Peru, but now with my first semester behind me, I am finding it easier to balance that which is important to me.  Speaking of balancing my life, I am recently engaged and my fiance, Sara, and I are busy planning a September wedding.  Sooooo…now when I am not memorizing the adverse side effects of Class 3 antibiotics, or pondering what color flowers to have  for the wedding, or sitting on the couch with Sara watching American Idol, I am busy directing the Policlinico Peruano Americano, our RMF clinic in Peru.  Feel free to check the RMF website for the latest monthly reports from Peru.  By the way, we celebrated the clinic’s 2 year anniversary on December 10, 2009.  The clinic staff celebrated the occasion with a Pisco Sour toast (after hours of course).

Here’s a touching story.  Towards the end of January, the clinic staff took the initiative to hold a fundraiser to benefit the victims of the Haiti earthquake.  They charged 5 Sol for entrance to the event, which is the equivalent of about $1.35.  They raised $300.  Magali, the Administrative Director at the clinic, asked for us to deduct the $300 from their monthly budget and instead use the money for our operation in Haiti.  This gesture brought a tear to my eye.  After suffering through an 8.0 earthquake in 2007, the people from Pisco are all too familiar with the horror and despair that comes in the wake of such a disaster.  They didnt hesitate when an opportunity arose to open their wallets to help the Haitians.  $300 in Peru is a lot of money!  Anyways, this gesture is a testament to the empathy and kindness of the Pisquenos.  I have to admit, that I have a great feeling of pride for our clinic staff.

Steve

Haiti: Food Crisis Looms

February 22, 2010 in Haiti by Real Medicine Foundation Staff | No comments

IPS

FEBRUARY 18, 2010

Haiti’s misery after last month’s earthquake will be compounded by a food catastrophe if the international community continues to ignore the country’s agricultural needs, the United Nations has warned.

Despite pledges covering over 95 percent of the 575-million-dollar target set for the U.N.’s Flash Appeal to rebuild Haiti, where food insecurity was a massive problem even before the earthquake that killed over 200,000 people, there is a big shortfall in the campaign’s agriculture component.

Indeed, only eight percent of the 23 million dollars required for the sector’s immediate needs have been raised, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has said.

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Report Paints Bleak Picture of Hunger and Malnutrition in Madhya Pradesh, India

February 22, 2010 in General, India by Real Medicine Foundation Staff | No comments

THE HINDU

FEBRUARY 19, 2010

The Asian Legal Resource Center (ALRC), a human rights organization with a General Consultative status with the United Nations’ Economic and Social Council, has pointed out conditions of mass deprivation, especially hunger, malnutrition and distress migration, in Madhya Pradesh in its country report on India to the UN Human Rights Council.

The report, expressing concerns over the right to food situation in India, points out the shocking state of affairs in Madhya Pradesh regarding several human development indicators, especially malnutrition among tribals.

According to the report, Madhya Pradesh carries a disturbing tag of being one of the biggest contributors to neo-natal and child mortality in the world. Laying special emphasis on tribal communities, the report states that the mortality rate among children under the age of five in the state’s tribal community is far higher than the state and national average.

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RMF Haiti: Quisqueya Coordination Center – Getting Staffing (New Photos)

February 20, 2010 in Haiti by Real Medicine Foundation Staff | No comments

Notes from RMF’s Kevin Connell, on the ground in Haiti
These are photos of Quisqueya, a Christian School on Delmas 75 that has turned into a coordination center for relief efforts in Port-au-Prince and elsewhere. They have meetings every night with the heads of some major health NGO’s, suppliers and hospitals, acting as a platform for people to exchange information, resources, etc.

Quisqueya is also housing docs/nurses/ents and has been allocating them to health facilities, tent camps, etc each day (including ours). They have supplied our medical staff each day for the current week.

RMF Haiti Story From the Field – Learning to Walk Again

February 18, 2010 in Haiti by Real Medicine Foundation Staff | No comments

Port-au-Prince, Haiti
February 18, 2010
By Kevin Connell

Haiti – Learning to Walk Again

Real Medicine, in partnership with Chadasha Foundation, has been allocating volunteer medical professionals to Sacred Heart Hospital (Hôpital Sacré Coeur) near the heart of the city to help in ongoing treatment and rehabilitation services.  One of the biggest challenges in Haiti is rehabilitating the new population of amputees.  The first few weeks are critical to getting these patients mobile as much as possible, strengthening what physical resources remain in the process.  Oftentimes this process is more mental than it is physical.

Today I had a chance to catch up with a physical therapist working as part of our team Sacred Heart, Mel Hoffman, and learn more about her work at the facility.  As the only PT currently working at the hospital, Mel has been in high demand, serving the 60 in-house patient populations by herself, about half of whom need daily rehabilitation sessions.  Mel is also working to provide each of them with training regimen overviews, introductions to their new prosthetic equipment and direct counseling.  Mel is very comprehensive in her approach, going out of her way to build relationships with each of the patients she serves.  Mel says that building trust is critical to making progress in her physical therapy sessions, and is particularly important with the victims of the earthquake in Haiti.  Most of them are suffering from PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), having been trapped under rubble for hours or even days before being found.  Having suddenly found themselves living in tents out in the day’s heat, surrounded by strangers and missing a leg, it’s understandable how many could feel uncertain or discouraged.   

Mel also tells me that many patients refuse to do therapy until they’ve been assured that the therapist is not leaving.  They have been subjected to a constantly-revolving staff of medical professionals, probing, prodding, measuring them each day since the disaster hit.  The patients may only know a professional for the few minutes he or she visits with them before passing them off to the next volunteer rotating through.  Mel insists on being present at the hospital as much as possible to build rapport with the patients, something that is unheard of at most facilities treating victims.  It is also a real world example of RMF’s mission to build sustainability into its clinics, ensuring that patients develop relationships with their providers and receive care and treatment not just during the immediate humanitarian crisis, but on a regular basis well into the future.

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“…these little scraps of paper are like diamonds.” (Haiti Video)

February 17, 2010 in General by Real Medicine Foundation Staff | No comments

“…these little scraps of paper are like diamonds.”

“…’One day at a time,’ she sings, ‘One day at a time”‘

Haiti: One Month on (BBC Video)

BBC.com
Monday, 15 February 2010
A month on from the Haiti earthquake and the government says the death toll may have reached 230,000.
The relief effort has been hindered by severe damage to roads and communications and now the country is facing the start of the rainy season.
In Leogane, the epicentre of the quake, west of Port-au-Prince, 90% of the buildings are in ruins or will need to be rebuilt.
Christian Fraser has been to the town to see how people are coping.

URGENT PRIORITIES for Haiti Relief efforts as of February 17, 2010

February 17, 2010 in Haiti by Real Medicine Foundation Staff | No comments

Port-au-Prince, Haiti
February 17, 2010
By Jonathan White

URGENT PRIORITIES for Haiti Relief efforts as of February 17, 2010

-Shelter and sanitation in preparation for rainy/hurricane season
-Rubble removal
-Medical outreach to outlying communities
-Cash for work programs

Haiti Situation update:  February 17, 2010:

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Lwala Public Health Project, Kenya

February 16, 2010 in Kenya by Real Medicine Foundation Staff | No comments

January 2010
By Caitlin Reiner and James Nardella, Michael Lear and Dr. Martina Fuchs

The mission of the Ochieng’ Memorial Lwala Community Health Center is to meet the holistic health needs of all members of the Lwala community, including its poorest. Whenever possible it addresses health problems at their roots through community health interventions. It aims to provide excellent community-based health care, not to become a tertiary care facility. The health center is part of a larger effort to achieve holistic health and development in Lwala, including educational and economic development. The primary beneficiaries are children, pregnant women, HIV infected persons and the elderly. Prior to the establishment of the clinic, there was no immediate access to primary health care or HIV/AIDS testing and care. For this reason, the Lwala health intervention has focused on primary care for children, access to medicines (particularly vaccines and antimalarials), HIV testing and care, public health outreach and safe maternity. The impact has been substantial since opening.
Lwala Village is part of the North Kamagambo Location in Rongo District, Nyanza Province, Kenya. North Kamagambo counts approximately 30,000 people.

In addition to basic primary care services, the Lwala facility provides maternal and child health services such as antenatal and postnatal care, vaccinations, growth monitoring and family planning; treatment of tuberculosis; comprehensive care for HIV, preventative services including PMTCT and male circumcision, counseling and testing as well as ARVs and nutritional support for persons living with HIV.

From August through October 2009, primary care was provided to 3,141 patients; more than 45 children were fully immunized; 198 women received antenatal care visits; 5 HIV positive mothers were delivered and received PMTCT care. A new HIV testing algorithm was implemented in accordance with MoH guidelines. Two Umama Salama workshops were held during which 17 women and 6 men were trained in Safe Motherhood lessons. A Rapid Core Assessment Tool for Child Health (CATCH) survey was conducted. Menstrual hygiene intervention was implemented in a local primary school. A successful measles vaccination campaign was conducted in conjunction with the Ministry of Health in response to a measles outbreak in the country. In addition, in conjunction with FACES, active recruiting for mothers to bring their male babies for infant male circumcision was done. Access to condoms was improved by the placement of condom dispensers in the latrines. Two Children’s Club sessions for HIV positive children were held. Also, a proposal requesting a kit of essential drugs from the Ministry of Health was submitted. Approval was obtained to receive both a monthly dispensary and a monthly health center kit which includes essential drugs such as antimalarials and antibiotics.

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