Make Healthcare accessible to all via Technology

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/