Touring the Health Centers

So not all of my time here has been about beer, food and beaches. In fact, I've been able to meet a lot of people in the health sector and tour a good part of the province. UAC put me in contact with Mr.Oben, an Oxford-educated former professor and social worker who acts as an advisor to UAC now that he is retired. Oben is also on the board of the local health council and seems to know just about everyone in town. Together we have met with the Director of the Southwest Province Health Delegation, the coordinator of the Mutual Health Organization (a new government-sponsored health insurance program), the head of the Buea Health Office, the surgeon and eye doctor at the government Provincial Hospital, the doctor at a small private hospital, and nurses/'Chief-of-Posts' at two small health outposts in local villages. All of these people have been very welcoming, honest and helpful, talking to me about the challenges they face in trying to provide quality health care with limited resources. Sadly, most of the diseases they see are easily preventable or treatable: malaria, diarrhea, dermatitis, intestinal parasites, TB, typhoid. However, most people fail to recognize the problem (especially in children), or try to self-medicate by buying drugs from street vendors, so they only make it to the hospital or clinic when they are very sick and often beyond help.

Now a shameless plug: If you work in the health sector, or know someone who does (and that means a lot of you), please see if your health facility has any spare resources. What they need here isnt complicated medical equiptment, just things like:
-Gauze
-Foreceps
-Syringes
-Tylenol
-Basic antibiotics

The nurses here work extremely hard, and are often owed salaries from months ago. They don't ask for a lot, but they really appreciate everything they receive. A new Dutch volunteer just arrived and brought glasses with her, and I will deliver them in Mamfe when I head north next week and already the town is excited about them. So please, if you can, start stealing from your hospital or clinic for the good of the Cameroonian people. Actually, I'm kidding about the stealing, but consider if you or your health center could spare any resources. I will publish pictures of the clinics and their very, very basic facilities as soon as the Internet allows to give you all a sense of the challenges they face here. Its pretty daunting.