Projects in Masanga
Promoting health
Starting in February 2011 we will launch a new project, whose main objective is to strengthen the primary health sector in the area surrounding Masanga Hospital.
Through our outreach we became familiar with some of the peripheral health units in the area. They represent the primary health sector in Sierra Leone, having the same function as general practicioners in the West. But they are not doctors.
The staff at the peripheral health units come from varied backgrounds. Some have a three-year clinically oriented basic medical education. But most of them have shorter educations than that. They have a great amount of practical experience, but lack theoretical knowledge and have no one to consult with in their area. In cooperation with the local authorities we will identify the clinics that are most in need. We will offer them a program specially targeted to the need of the specific clinic and lasting several days.
The first day we will follow them in their daily work in the clinic and identify the topics that could be relevant to take up. In the second visit we will provide clinical teaching in the topics selected and based on the patients visiting the clinic. During our stay we will arrange a screening focused on malnourished children and pregnant women. Those patients who are in need of hospital treatment will be taken to the hospital for free medical care. In the long run we hereby wish to strengthen the cooperation between the hospital and the surrounding peripheral health clinics, as well as establishing some clear hospitalization criteria, so patients will not make the long journey from their hometown to the hospital in vain.
When we are not in the field, we will be preparing our lesson materials as well as taking part in the daily work at the hospital.
The malnourishment ward at Masanga Hospital
When IMCC Masanga joined in on the rebuilding of Masanga hospital in 2008, it was at first with the establishment of a ward for malnourished children, a Therapeutic Feeding Centre, TFC. In autumn 2009 the ward was renamed Stabilization Centre (SC).
In the beginning it was the volunteers who ran the ward, but gradually the local staff has assumed more tasks and responsibilities, so over time our function became more and more administrative. The administrative part has now also been handed over to the local staff and beginning on february 1, 2011, the ward will be run independently.
Besides the work in the ward, a screening program was also established. The staff from the ward and the volunteers visited some of the peripheral health clinics that are located in smaller villages in the area.
This assured that even the poorest, that could not afford transportation to the hospital, could still receive the needed medical care. This also notified outlying areas of the excistence of Masanga Hospital.
The screening program is still running as part of the wards function, but in the future without our participation.
