I left for a medical trip on 30th June and just got back home yesterday. I see that 7 people have already looked to see if I'd written something new for this month so sorry for being a bit late!
TheKenyan papers have had some interesting health statistics recently:
1. The number of people newly infected by the HIV virus has decreased by 40% in the last 5 years.
One third of these infections are in prostitutes, homosexuals and fishermen. 44% occur in steady partners as they trust one another and don't use condoms. Five years ago only 36% of those infected knew they had the virus. Now 70% know as more people are getting tested.
2. The number of new HIV infections in children has been reduced by 50%. More pregnant HIV positive women are receiving drugs and the number of children on treatment in Kenya has doubled but still only 3 out of 10 children receive the treatment they need.
3. Multidrug resistent TB has risen from 255 people last year to 600 this year. Mombasa has the highest number of TB cases in Kenya because of 'rasping poverty levels'. Kenya is ranked 15 amonth the 22 countries with the highest TB cases.
The little boy that I put on thyroid medicine at the end of May came back 19 days later and was already starting to sit up better, smile and vocalize more. His mother sees good improvement and we are hopeful that he will make good progress quickly. These children can have intellectual impairment so it will take time for us to see how much damage was done before we got him on treatment.
A two year old child came to the clinic in Bangaladesh with blindness. He had been diagnosed to have retinoblastoma (cancer of the retina) at one year of age in Kenytta National Hospital. The mother is a high school teacher and she has already lost two of four other children. The doctors couldn't agree on whether to remove one or both eyes. The mother, in her fear and paralysis, did nothing for one whole year. Finally her sister coaxed her to come see me. We got a CT scan which showed there were masses in both eyes but they hadn't spread to the brain. So, I contacted a British opthalmologist who has a charitable clinic on south coast and she has a specialist visiting next week who will see the child. They think he has Primary persistent hyperplastic vitreous (PPHV) a noncancerous growth that I've never even heard of!!! This specialist will see him for US$3.00.
The day before yesterday I saw two patients in the same clinic with advanced cancer. The 47 year old man had lung cancer spread to his liver and hip. The 57 year old woman had abdominal cancer of unknown origin which had spread to the lymph system and other sites. Both of these people were in great pain and weren't taking any pain medication. The usual scenario is for the doctor to say he can't do anything else. The patients and their families then travel around from place to place looking for treatment. The woman had just come back from a hospital in Tanzania. There is so much work to be done on educating everyone about palliative care and good pain managment.
President Obama bypassed Kenya on his African tour and that was probably a wise decision. The government here still has some very serious allegations to answer for. Today I read an article in the Daily Nation newspaper graphically describing atrocities that men have admitted to committing on Mt. Elgon in 2008. These people fled to Kiminini where I was working at the time and I heard their stories myself. I'm glad that finally the truth is starting to come out. Peole have lived with some very heavy burdens and they deserve to be heard and find some restorative justice.
While all of you in the northern hemisphere are enjoying summer it is winter here. The temperatures get up to a high of only 80F = 27C and it's easier to sleep during the cooler nights. The new moon will appear on the 9th or 10th of July and with it the beginning of the Holy Month of Ramadhan for our Muslim neighbors. At least their fasting will be during the cooler season this year. Tomorrow will be the 4th of July and we from the United States are very blessed and have a lot to be grateful for. But it would be good for us to humbly admit that we still have things we can do better. Let us see ourselves as part of a much bigger world and committ ourselves to making life better for everyone with special attention to those most in need...with liberty and justice for all.
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