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.
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