Tag Archives: Community Health

VENEZUELA..a COVID 19 TSUNAMI

Posted on 16 May 2020 by | Leave a comment

Photo Credt: Dr Jueida Azkoul

As we in Canada transition into a gradual opening up from Covid restrictions  Venezuelans are facing an escalating Covid 19 crisis on top of years of food and medicine shortages, chronic malnutrition, unemployment, hyperinflation and political instability. Over the past 5 years Venezuelans have lost thousands of doctors and nurses and experienced chronic shortages of medicines and medical supplies leading to increases in many infectious diseases such as malaria, HIV, TB, diphtheria and measles and frequent inadequate management of acute and chronic medical problem.

The addition of the Covid 19 pandemic onto this fragile , vulnerable Venezuelan population is very concerning. It is impossible to estimate the prevalence of Covid 19 in Venezuela today as there are severe shortages of testing capabilities, contact tracing, PPE, medicines, ventilators and general hospital and ICU capacity.

It is concerning that the number of reported cases of Covid in Venezuela to WHO as of today is 459 with 10 deaths…in a population of 29 million ( 4 million people have left over past 5 years).

To put things in perspective, New Zealand, with a population of 4.8 million have reported 1498 cases and 21 deaths to date.

Neighbours such as Brazil have reported 220,291 cases( 6th highest in world) and 14,962 deaths, Colombia 14,216/ 546 deaths, Peru 84,495/ 2392 deaths, Ecuador 31,467/2594 and Chile 39,542/ 394

Tightening international sanctions, significantly reduced global oil prices and a poorly diversified national economy contributes significantly to a disastrous response to the Covid crisis.

The IMF recently rejected a Venezuelan request for $5 billion to support a Covid 19 response within Venezuela because of the uncertain political situation.

I am attaching a short video sent by some amazing medical colleagues who have chosen to stay in Venezuela to help their people during the ongoing humanitarian crisis including the recent Covid pandemic….

See Video

They are amazing human beings, who risk their own lives and the lives of their families daily to help their fellow Venezuelans in a very challenging environment.
I visited this hospital and met a number of people in the video in 2018.

As the video is in Spanish I will translate the main points…
These are doctors and nurses who work in the University Hospital de los Andes in Merida , Venezuela.

The hospital is responsible for looking after over a million patients from urban and mountainous rural areas in the Andes.

Prof Maria Odreman talks about improving testing capabilities and contact tracing to identify those infected and reduce the transmission chain.

Photo Credt: Dr Jueida Azkoul

The hospital has well trained , committed staff but limited resources
(A rapid antibody test from China has been used in Venezuela to date to diagnose Covid..it is not a good test to use for diagnosis with lots of false negatives and turns positive 1-2 weeks post onset of infection).

There is a huge shortage of NP and throat swabs + reagent and lab capacity
Dr Jueida Azkoul talks about the need for more lab testing capabilities/ test options including PCR to help diagnosis and shorten diagnostic time and improve PPE/ disinfectant access to protect staff and patients.

I understand it is a very difficult time for many in these challenging times but if you are comfortable in making a donation to help these front line health care workers and the people of Venezuela please make a donation…

You can also make a donation through BASIC HEALTH INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION

basichealthinternational.org  (Here)

Donations over $25 will be issued a tax receipt for Canadian donors.

Please mark ” Venezuela Covid response” on any donations.

A donor has offered to donate $4 for every $1 donated through BHIF..so every dollar you donate will turn into $5 donated !!

Basic Health International Foundation does not charge any administration fees.

Many thanks to you all !!!

Bill Hanlon MD

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A Visit with Alam Jan Dario, eHealth, Schools, Community Health and More

Posted on 28 August 2014 by | 1 Comment

Amran Jan Dario''s wife Haji Bibi and child, Zood Khun village, Chipurson Valley, tributary of Hunza Valley, PakistanThe following day we crossed the Atabad Lake heading north to Shimshal.

We had a good meeting with the director of the KADO IT Centre in Gulmit. We met with a new class of young students who were participating in a business IT program. We discussed with the director about BHI’s willingness to help fund a part time teacher to provide an e-health component to their general IT course. He agreed to work out a budget for such a program. After crossing the Lake we heard that the Shimshal road was temporarily closed due to a recent rockslide. At short notice, after meeting our great driver Sajjad on the far side of the lake, we decided to head to the village of Zood Khun, the last of eleven villages at the far end of the Chipursan Valley.

As the day light was fading, approaching the village of Zood Khun we met Alam Jan Dario heading by jeep in the opposite direction. Alam Jan is a great musician, poet, community leader and friend. In typical Hunza style, he joined us as we headed to a group of shepherds camped in a pasture beyond Zood Khun. The shepherds spend most of the daylight hours with their sheep/goats and yaks in the high country looking for good pasture and bring down their animals in the early evening so they can protect them from predators such as wolves, foxes and snow leopards.

We had a good discussion re: health issues with the shepherds over a cup of chai. As light was fading, we headed back to Alam Jan’s house for the night. We met his mother, wife and the rest of the family, had a lovely traditional meal and spent the night at his home.

His hospitality is well known. He has started planting fruit tress such as apricots/cherries/apples and mulberries and looking into a simple greenhouse design to extend the growing season for vegetables.

Chipursan Valley is colder and higher than Misgar and more difficult to grow fruits and vegetables.

Alam Jan has shown that it is possible to grow fruit and vegetables in this area. Hopefully his actions will inspire other families in the area to pursue similar activities.

The following morning we went back to visit the shepherds in daylight and did some health assessments and discussed nutrition and general health issues, especially those centred around close animal and human contact. It is important to be flexible with clinical evaluation times as the shepherds leave around 7.30 am and don’t get back to their camp until around 5.30pm.

Later that day we visited the local CAI built high school and met with students and teachers. CAI currently funds 2 teachers and AKS runs the school. Schools like this would very much benefit from internet connectivity. Hopefully it will happen soon. This school also has a good working relationship with parents.

In the afternoon Alam Jan and I visited the home of community health worker Aziza and her family.

She has been working in her community for over 20 years. She runs a dispensary service from an adjoining room attached to her house. She is available 24/7 without any backup help. She appeared to have a good supply of medicines which are restocked every 6 months by the government. She does see some Kyrghiz nomads from the Wakhan seasonally when they come across to trade via Baba Ghundi. We discussed possible ways we could support this initiative.

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