more flowers

the clinic here is a very small private clinic. it's located slightly off the road. the town here has a few other large hospitals and several other small clinics similar to my own. patients are....a delicacy. they come in spurts...if they come at all. our busiest days are saturdays obviously since we are open during the week during normal business hours so perhaps (hopefully) these people have jobs that they are busy carrying out. but even saturdays run slow.

the typical patient presents with c/o reoccurring fever for the last 3 or so days. blood cultures are drawn, malaria is diagnosed (unless it's typhoid). they are given their medications and they are directed to rest if they can, and remember to use their mosquito net...because repellent and malaria prophylaxis medications are much to expensive for the average client. one university director i was speaking with about malaria imposed the question that: what if the majority doesn't consider malaria even an issue? what if the average patient considers malaria equal to the way the average american considers the common cold: somewhat preventable, but likely to occur at least once a year.
unfortunately, the sad fact is that even tho so many survive malaria and are cured so many more die from malaria. those people that die are likely the ones that perhaps don't have the funds for a mosquito net. perhaps they don't have funds for the medication needed to treat malaria. perhaps they don't have funds to even see the doctor about it. or they can't make it to a hospital at all...perhaps they don't know where malaria even comes from. most of these facts i think would be apparent for other parts of cameroon and africa. fortunately, in this area of cameroon there are facilities to cooperate with the poor public, like mine. but what about the rest of africa? really...how do we reach them?

sorry...that's all i can write for now... missing you all!

written by  theresa on November 5, 2009 from Douala, Cameroon
from the travel blog: to africa
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Thanks for the up dates...love reading about where you are and what your up too!!!

written by  jules on November 5, 2009

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