community eye health training

Five of our Health Care Workers travelled to Calabar this week at the invitation of the Tulsai Chanrai Foundation, for training in triage and community eye health management.
Perhaps not the best week considering the current round of elections the trip was without incident and all enjoyed the program.
The training was in preparation for a triage camp in Delta State,not to far from where we work. The camp is at the invite of a Local Government Body and the patients who are suitable will be transported for surgery to Calabar to the East, in Cross Rivers State where Tulsai Chanrai run a free cataract service and eye program at the General Hospital. Do check the link to see what sterling work they do.

Rose and Victory have already benefited from Primary Health Care Training, another arm of the Tulsai Chanrai Foundation, attending a three month course back in 2005.
The Foundation kindly provided the program so we can be an active part of this camp assessing patients triage and education. Having this link with the free service the Foundation offers means we can transport patients we identify in the creeks by road, a lot less hassle and expense than trying to set up remote surgical camps in the creeks.

Besides the training it was a good chance for the team to have a chance to get away from the demands of the Clinic , and like all who visit Calabar, to marvel at the clean roads, lack of litter and generally chilled atmosphere that contrasts so dramatically with the gritty tension that pervades much of Delta State ...

senseless waste...

This little boy came to the Clinic, his mother complaining that he was suffering from nosebleeds, and coughing up blood.
Well nourished and cared for, this was a rather surprising complaint, especially as his mother stated he had only been unwell for three days She had not treated the boy but consulted a native healer, who told her the child was suffering from a throat infection, and subsequently 'treated' him.

The boy was floppy and pale, the normally pink conjunctivae paperwhite.

His ashen hands confirmed profound anaemia and testing showed his Haemoglobin was less than 4, indicating he badly needed a blood transfusion having lost a significant amount of blood.
The native healer had cut out the tonsils using a razor blade and without anaesethetic.
Checking inside the mouth the tonsillar remnants were continuing to bleed and we urged transfer to hospital for a blood transfusion, and further treatment to arrest the bleeding. He was now passing dark bloody diarrhoea.

Unfortunately the baby died before help could be given.

The ability to transfuse is critical in remote settings, as infant death from trauma, and indeed malaria often results from the complications of severe anaemia. We are starting training this June so our Health Care Workers can identify blood groups and transfuse from the patients relatives.
Reflecting on the header 'senseless waste' someone close pointed out that this barbarism is not without sense. The belief in fetish medicine and the power of the native practitioner is deep and reflects a spiritual bondage that is endemic and hard to break. These beliefs are rooted in fear, control and wickedness, resulting in so much preventable suffering. It is salvation through Jesus Christ that breaks these bonds, sets the captives free and allows both spiritual and physical healing. Persisting testimony to this truth and witnessing to those in such bondage in love is as vital as any transfusion.