100917 Nyheter från Afrika

Now we have reached halftime here in Mpongwe. The same routine carries on as all days with breakfast and a mumbling morning meeting. Most of it was about a rather complicated patient in maternity ward. The dentist read aloud the report from general wards and he did not know all the difficult abbreviations and lingo used in the report.
The round was rather quick as we have only 9 patients of which 3 are in malnutrition ward. It seems to be impossible to get a decent fluid-list that tells you not only at what time they get their feed but also how much seen for the 24 hours and the specific meal. In malnourished children this is very important. But as the staff leaves everything to the mothers it is hard to have them fill in lists they do not understand the meaning of. Naturally there were a few tests that had not been taken and one tat had to go to Ndola were not sent until yesterday although it was collected the 10th of Sept. (This is five days ago) The explanation was that transportation happened only Wednesdays. The patient is in malnutrition ward so there is no hurry. We know she has HIV but we would like to have this verified so that we can give her treatment and hunt for the contaminating party.
Maria had a hardworking day on OPD where she collected the last twenty patients for her survey. She saw a lot of awful patients among these one Kaposis syndrome with an ugly foot.
We met the two Swedes that are here in Mpongwe, send by Interact=Evaneliska frikyrkan, the same as sent the Wijks. They will try to evaluate a project sponsored by SIDA concerning the management of MBA and the hospital. We had an extremely interesting evening with a swede that was the head of EFK=Interact for Africa. We discussed MMH and MBA and their interaction and leadership at some length. We concluded that something had to be done, but the speed of action and the actions taken, was to be considered closely. A forthcoming meeting for all parties, including Scandinavian Doctors, was to be planned for next spring. The meeting should focus on information between all groups with an interest in MMH. There are too many people and too much of resources at stake to make anything without careful planning.