Make Healthcare accessible to all via Technology

                                                                       Newsletter May 2012

“ Approximately 25% of the total patients at UM Healthcare Trust are Hepatitis patients” – Dr.Qasim

Hepatitis: A Serious Concern

Viral Hepatitis is a serious global concern and one of the major challenges towards achieving the health, related United Nations Millennium Development Goals. It is leading to a significant increase in mortality rate worldwide. Pakistan has hepatitis as one of the ten communicable diseases. The WHO places over 15 million carriers of the virus in the country. The calculated cost of treating all carriers in Pakistan is well in excess of PKR 250 billion (WHO). In terms of mortality and cost, it is expected to dramatically increase over the next decade.

There are over 12 million carriers of Hepatitis virus in Pakistan as estimated by World Health Organization. This number is rising fast due to its unchecked spread in rural communities. There exist five type of hepatitis i.e A, B, C, D and E and of them, B and C are the leading cause of liver cancer.  A total of 7.4 per cent of population is infected with hepatitis of which 2.6 per cent are infected with hepatitis B while 4.7 per cent with hepatitis C.

The Hepatitis virus is caused by many factors including, but not limited to, person-to-person (fecal-oral), exposure to infective bodily fluids (blood, saliva, semen etc), and waterborne diseases. In rural Pakistan the tap water is still not prevalent and villagers still drink straight out of a well. At the same time, due to lack of central sewerage system in rural communities, the waste is stored in another well not far from the drinking water well. With such wells multiplied over thousands in rural communities, the problem of sewerage waste mixing with untreated drinking water rises and thus causes acute crisis and spread of Viral Hepatitis and other waterborne diseases in rural communities.

Although millions of Pakistanis are infected with the Hepatitis virus, there is a surprising dearth of information about its prevalence. Policymakers and health providers at the global, national and community level need accurate and timely data in order to gauge the effectiveness of existing policies and programs as well as to shape new ones.

Warm Welcome to Dr. Salman Khan

We are pleased to announce that , Dr.Salman Khan, has joined us to serve as a Medical Doctor on May 14th 2012. He has done his MBBS from Khyber Medical College, Peshawar, in 2009. We look forward to support to Mr. Salman Khan in his current assignment and wish him a happy association with the UM Healthcare Trust.

Links:

• Affoardable Healthcare for rural communities of Pakistan

Seeking Healthy Behavior through FUN

“This is the first time I ever got this incredible opportunity to attend an awareness session on health issues. I learned so much form this session and would definitely bring my sister-in-laws next time any awareness sessions are arranged.” – Participant.

“Can you (session facilitator- Lubna Khan) visit us every week so that we can learn more about our and family health? We want to seek more knowledge through these kinds of sessions” – Women Participant

Awareness session at UM Trust

For the first time, UM Healthcare Trust and Right To Play (www.righttoplay.com ), a global organization that uses the transformative power of Play  and Sport to educate and empower children facing adversity, arranged an event under the theme “Small bite, Big Threat” for community women and children at UM Trust’s Amphitheater.  The major objective of the event was to sensitize community women and children on adopting the healthy life style and preventive practices to avoid vector borne diseases. The event witnessed the participation of over 40 women and more than 70 children from various age groups and backgrounds.

During the first hour of event, an interactive awareness session was conducted with women by Right To Play’s team members- Lubna Khan, Rubina Khan and Shabana. The team followed the participatory approach to involve women in health related discussion. The major points discussed were the symptoms, side effects and preventive care related to vector borne diseases. Within five minutes of session, women felt comfortable and willingly shared their case studies with facilitators.

Awareness session for female patients and community women

“I had so much fun today. I will play these games with my siblings and friends at our village and show them how easy hand washing can be” – Hina

“We shall be strong if we do not get sick, and we would not get sick if we would wash our hands before eating anything. And we can beat all the other kids in cricket.” says Hamza to his brother.

Hamza happy after participating in fun game

To engage children and to teach them about importance of healthy behavior, Right To Play held fun-based sport and play based activities with children. The most amazing aspect of Right To Play’s game is their Reflect-Connect-Apply (RCA) approach which they applied after each game with all children. After each game through RCA session, children were asked to share their experiences (Reflect) and what they have learned (Connect) and key messages about the health which they will adopt in future (Apply). This approach actively involved children in the games conducted at UM Trust. Following games were played with the children:

• Doctor Doctor (Activity) for Children
• Flu Bug
• Mosquito Tag
• Wash your Hand

Fun health games with children

Children enjoying health game

Children playing “Wash your hands”-health game

Overall the event was very productive.  Participants especially women individually thanked  Right To Plays team members and UM Healthcare Hospital management and requested to hold more of such workshops.

Disease Trend Analysis:

During the past quarter, UM Healthcare Trust continued to serve the deserving people of Rural Mardan, KP and provided them with primary healthcare with all its determination.

In February 2014, a total of 1649 patients were treated in UM Healthcare Hospital in which 17.88%  were men, 46.75% were women and remaining 35.35% were children.

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Links:

• Affordable and accessible healthcare for rural communities