Physical Health Pakistan Project #6331

Make Healthcare accessible to all via Technology

by UM Healthcare Trust

Make Healthcare accessible to all via Technology

Project Report | Jul 11, 2016
Project Report (April - June 2016)

By Sumaira Malik | Project Coordinator

A picture of one angle of the lab

During the mentioned months from April to June of the year 2016, UM Healthcare Trust Hospital was able to treat more than 5700 patients out of which on average 40% were females and 40% were children and the remaining were male patients. In these super hot months of the year with very little rainfall and fluctuating levels of electricity and water in the villages, top common illness in patients were Fever, Gastroenteritis and Respiratory tract infections.

A case worth mentioning came up in June of a twelve year old girl named Anila who had developed a skin disorder. She had white patches all over her skin especially on her face, hands, feet and arms, those parts of the body that were usually uncovered and exposed to the sun. Other parts of the body also had patches and spots such as her nostrils, armpits and even around her eyes. All these patches caused her discomfort because of how they appeared, emotionally and physically in terms of the patches being itchy.

Anila was brought to the UM Healthcare Trust Hospital by her parents to get her checked and see if some sort of treatment can be provided. Their financial situation, as it is for most people in the nearby villages, is not of the mark so they can't take Anila to the city or provide any high cost treatment. Our doctors examined and diagnosed her with Vitiligo which happens in different extents of how widespread it gets on the body. With Vitiligo other complications can occur such as autoimmune disorder when our own immune system starts to suppress our functioning cells. Dr. Tahir at the UM Healthcare Trust Hospital discussed this case in detail with a dermatologist and started the treatment for Anila. They prescribed a syrup for deworming purposes and a topical cream to apply all over the patches for pigmentation purposes.

This is a slow treatment but the doctors are very hopeful that Anila will fully recover and proceed to better stages. Anila has been prescribed weekly visits for follow up purposes and to make sure she's using all the medications in the right manner. All this treatment is free of cost and the medicines are provided at subsidized rates. When she was checked after one week, Dr. Tahir quotes that there was a 1% improvement and he is very confident that she will improve with every passing day!

Secondly, we would take this opportunity to mention a case of another patient who is 60 year old lady, Nasima Bibi, who came to the hospital complaining of chest pain in the first week of May. The doctors referred her to the city complex so she could get checked by a cardiologist and get her ECG done as the UM Hospital's ECG machine was unavailable. Nasima had a history of diabetes along with hypertension which makes her case slightly more critical and according to the doctors her tests and treatment should be done with no delay. So meanwhile before sending her to the city complex, blood tests were performed in order to check her lipid profile.

When the results came in and on analysis, doctors came to the conclusion that the patient has aschemic heart disease where the heart in not getting sufficient blood to perform all actions. When Nasima bibi went to the city complex, the cardiologists gave the exact same diagnosis. This was a delighting moment for the doctors and the staff that with the resources and circumstances they are operating in, they are producing good results without any compromise on the patients health.

Patient at registration

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Apr 13, 2016
Project Report (January - March 2016)

By Sumaira Malik | Project Coordinator

Two little patients waiting to get checked

In the month of January, February and March more than 4,500 patients were treated at the UM Healthcare Trust Hospital. The top three illnesses for the stated months were Fever, Upper/ Lower Respiratory Tract Infection followed by body ache. And majority of the body ache patients suffered from back ache.

In February, during our visit to the hospital we saw and experienced the care and treatment provided to a year old boy named Sanaullah. Sanaullah belongs to a family where the head of the family earns not more than Rs. 300 on days that he's called on to work. With this level of monthly income basic necessities which include adequate nutrition, healthy living, sufficient clothing in regards to the weather and even education fall under luxury for them and if fulfilled are a great privilege to them.

Sanaullah was sick for over a month, and the unawareness and poverty caused his mother not to take him to any medical facility to get him checked. Since he was being fed bread dipped in tea and minimal solid food, the little boy was malnourished and his Iron level was so low that the child had become anemic. His health had deteriorated so rapidly that he was just a weak body of bones with his skin wrinkled and puffed up around the belly. However when he was brought to the hospital, doctors diagnosed him with Kwashiorkor which is associated with protein deficiency. As a result doctors prescribed multivitamins, Iron tablets and antibiotics to cure his chest infection which were all available at the hospital's own pharmacy free of cost. In addition, a ten day follow up was set to monitor Sanaullah's health and progress so he can become one healthy baby.

Along that, to attain a healthy clean society awareness sessions were held in regards to health hygiene, handwashing and proper use of food products. The approach adopted for the awareness sessions is that there are three sessions in a day once every month so those who miss out on the morning session can attend the one after. And these sessions are held in the amphitheatre in the hospital area. Looking at statistics in the month of January, over 350 and in February 400 people attended the health hygiene awareness sessions.

In the month of March, another very interesting story came to the front when a resident from a nearby village with the name of Luqman started to walk on his own legs. Luqman, 22, had become partly paralyzed that some parts of his body were completely immobile. His treatment overall took a while, about a couple of months. In the beginning Luqman was brought to the hospital on his father's back and shoulders as his health did not allow him to move much. But, with continuous therapy along with supplements, milk and ensure he has now become mobile! Luqman is gradually getting better and better but the greatest part is he walks on his own legs.

We as a team are continuously working hard to make the previous initiatives better and take new initiatives to focus and target on issues that still need attention.

Links:

http://www.umtrust.org/stories-from-field/the-old-and-wrinkled-little-boy/

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Nov 24, 2015
UM Healthcare Trust Updates

By Shamila Keyani | Program Manager

UM Healthcare Trust Updates

Disease Trend (October 2014)

In the month of October 2015, a total of 1,558 patients were treated. Of which 288 (18.48%) were male, 653 (41.91%) were Female and 617 (39.60%) were children. The highest number of patients presented with Fever, possibly due to changing weather conditions. Most of the patients with fever were children who are more susceptible to catching cold. Second most common complaint was Respiratory Tract Infections, both Upper and Lower Tract. As with the fever, majority of the patients in this category were also children. The third most common complaint was Gastroenteritis, again more prevalent in children.

The disease trend is consistent with the trends seen in previous years with an upsurge of fevers and respiratory infections with increasingly cold weather. A leading cause of respiratory infections in the area is the practice of in-door wood and dung burning stoves as Gas is not available. In winter, people stay indoor more and get mor eexposure to the in-door pollution, leading to respiratory infections. The cold weather and cramped living conditions also contribute to the spread of disease.

JAROKA Mobile based Tele-Healthcare Solution goes to Badin (Sindh)

After the success of Narowal, our partner organization has started implementing the SMS based Jaroka system in Badin, an impoverished area of Sindh. Our staff members went to train the field workers in June this year and conducted a comprehensive need assessment study in February. After making all the necessary arrangements, the system is now being used in the area.

The Jaroka system allows Community Midwives to register a patient, add complaints and vitals, add status, and get advice from a doctor, all through Text Messages. They can also retrieve patient history and ID, get definitions and symptoms of various diseases and get help with writing commands. Work is also underway to customize the Jaroka app for future use in Badin. The app will be facilitate users who only know the local language (sindhi) by allowing them to read the form and write information in Sindhi. It will also support additional languages. UM Healthcare Trust is hoping to have the app ready by January.

Links:

http://www.umtrust.org

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