I have been a little ill over the last few days. Nothing serious, its simply inevitable that you get ill out here at some stage given the conditions we are working and living in.
However, one of the volunteers got quite ill over the last few days so I brought him to the Aga Khan hospital in Mombasa. You might think is that a good idea? Is the health system in Africa any good at all?
Well it is true that first rate health care is not available to the average person here remembering that the average person in this country lives on less that 50 euros a month.
We arrived at the hospital. Following check in, a nurse took my colleague and did a load of basic measurements including blood pressure, weight check and heart rate checks etc. She also took blood and urine samples and a stool sample.
15 mins after arriving at the the hospital we saw a doctor who went through a rigorous set of checks again. My colleague, who is an experienced traveller and who had had Malaria before was concerned that he had contracted Maleria again. The doctor said he would look into it and left the two of us.
30 minutes later the doctor returned with some carefully wrapped drugs for my friend. The doctor explained that my colleague had increased white cell activity in his blood and he was dehyrated. He had no Malaria and early tests from the stool sample had ruled out anything serious in the bowel.
The doctor had actually been involved in the tests himslf and had ordered and packed all the drugs as well!
So in the space of 1 hour we left the hospital reassured and equipped with the correct drugs for treatment. I was astonished - it was a health system that put our own back in Ireland to shame....
That all happened yesterday. My friend is feeling much better today. The cost for the entire process including the anti-biotics? - 500 schillings (about 5 euros).
Thats still way beyond the average person here however it does mean that the expertise and systems are in place. As I have said before we have so much to learn from the developing world....
However, one of the volunteers got quite ill over the last few days so I brought him to the Aga Khan hospital in Mombasa. You might think is that a good idea? Is the health system in Africa any good at all?
Well it is true that first rate health care is not available to the average person here remembering that the average person in this country lives on less that 50 euros a month.
We arrived at the hospital. Following check in, a nurse took my colleague and did a load of basic measurements including blood pressure, weight check and heart rate checks etc. She also took blood and urine samples and a stool sample.
15 mins after arriving at the the hospital we saw a doctor who went through a rigorous set of checks again. My colleague, who is an experienced traveller and who had had Malaria before was concerned that he had contracted Maleria again. The doctor said he would look into it and left the two of us.
30 minutes later the doctor returned with some carefully wrapped drugs for my friend. The doctor explained that my colleague had increased white cell activity in his blood and he was dehyrated. He had no Malaria and early tests from the stool sample had ruled out anything serious in the bowel.
The doctor had actually been involved in the tests himslf and had ordered and packed all the drugs as well!
So in the space of 1 hour we left the hospital reassured and equipped with the correct drugs for treatment. I was astonished - it was a health system that put our own back in Ireland to shame....
That all happened yesterday. My friend is feeling much better today. The cost for the entire process including the anti-biotics? - 500 schillings (about 5 euros).
Thats still way beyond the average person here however it does mean that the expertise and systems are in place. As I have said before we have so much to learn from the developing world....
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