I was impressed when I first heard about government hospitals. Hospitals of "free of charge" sounded very relieving after seeing so many people and children suffering from malaria and various infections in the villages. But of course, they can't provide the same services I get back home where I have to pay a lot of money for health insurance.
In the area I work, there are 2 government hospitals. People go there walking for hours and hours. When they finally get there, they may be lucky enough to get the medicines if it's malaria. Often times they run out of the medications and people simply have to go home with nothing but their weak and sick bodies. If it's an infection, they give you Panado (local pain killer tablets). Do Panado tablets heal infections? Obviously no.
The other day the wife of a field worker in HIV/AIDS project came asking for my help. Her son had a badly broken arm. I could clearly see it was broken. She went to one of the gov't hospitals and got Panado but she knew that it would not do anything. She had no money because the husband was away. I arranged the transport for her and her son and gave her money to go to a clinic to get his arm X-rayed and treated.
Another day, my local supervisor for preschool project fell down from bicycle. As he is turning 70 years old this year, he was having lots of pain in his back. His muscle must have been torn apart or something. He went to the gov't hospital and again, got Panado.
And today, at a preschool I'm supervising, I saw a 5 year-old boy with a swollen hand. He has 12 fingers and 12 toes. I'm not sure if that has anything to do with the infection but his right hand was huge. His mother told me that she took him to the gov't hospital before and then of course got Panado... The teacher there told me it's a type of skin disease that requires an injection if I understood her chichewa (local language) correctly... I'm bringing him antibiotics ointment and pills tomorrow.
The reality is that people from the villages can't even afford the transport to go to a bigger gov't hospital in town with many volunteer doctors from overseas. Given that, they can't afford to get treatment at any other private clinics of course. But it's a life-or-death matter. And in fact, so many children and adults die from malaria and diarrhea, completely treatable diseases. There is no way I could help everyone. I know. But can't there be anything I can do to change this situation?
If nothing gets treated, what's the point of having a hospital? I wonder...
In the area I work, there are 2 government hospitals. People go there walking for hours and hours. When they finally get there, they may be lucky enough to get the medicines if it's malaria. Often times they run out of the medications and people simply have to go home with nothing but their weak and sick bodies. If it's an infection, they give you Panado (local pain killer tablets). Do Panado tablets heal infections? Obviously no.
The other day the wife of a field worker in HIV/AIDS project came asking for my help. Her son had a badly broken arm. I could clearly see it was broken. She went to one of the gov't hospitals and got Panado but she knew that it would not do anything. She had no money because the husband was away. I arranged the transport for her and her son and gave her money to go to a clinic to get his arm X-rayed and treated.
Another day, my local supervisor for preschool project fell down from bicycle. As he is turning 70 years old this year, he was having lots of pain in his back. His muscle must have been torn apart or something. He went to the gov't hospital and again, got Panado.
And today, at a preschool I'm supervising, I saw a 5 year-old boy with a swollen hand. He has 12 fingers and 12 toes. I'm not sure if that has anything to do with the infection but his right hand was huge. His mother told me that she took him to the gov't hospital before and then of course got Panado... The teacher there told me it's a type of skin disease that requires an injection if I understood her chichewa (local language) correctly... I'm bringing him antibiotics ointment and pills tomorrow.
The reality is that people from the villages can't even afford the transport to go to a bigger gov't hospital in town with many volunteer doctors from overseas. Given that, they can't afford to get treatment at any other private clinics of course. But it's a life-or-death matter. And in fact, so many children and adults die from malaria and diarrhea, completely treatable diseases. There is no way I could help everyone. I know. But can't there be anything I can do to change this situation?
If nothing gets treated, what's the point of having a hospital? I wonder...
