Supporting Rural Health Centres in Ethiopia

Yasim is a weaver who lives in the small town of Maksegnit, around 40 km south of the city of Gondar, Ethiopia. He was diagnosed with insulin-dependent diabetes 7 years ago. As he has no means of transport he is unable to travel to the local hospital and therefore has been regularly attending the health centre in Maksenit. The nurses and health officers have received training and can therefore confidently help to manage his diabetes and provide him with insulin. He cannot read or write and finds giving himself the right dose of insulin a challenge. To help him the staff at the health centre mark the insulin syringe with a piece of tape to show him the right amount of insulin to take. Recently the nurses in the health centre found he also has high blood pressure, common in patients with diabetes. They have been able to successfully start treatment for this too. Thankfully, there are no other complications for Yasim and he can continue to work as normal.

A 35-year-old young man arrived at Gondar University hospital after a wound in his right foot had failed to heal after being injured more than 2 weeks ago. It had been dressed and treated with antibiotics but was still open and painful.

Due to the high level of training on diabetes the nurse had received, she was able to confidently refer the patient for further investigation. The patient had previously not experienced any symptoms of diabetes even thought it would later come to light that he was a type 2 diabetic. 

After further examination of his eyes it was evident that the patient had retinopathy, a chronic complication of diabetes which can result in loss of vision. Because the nurse was able to spot the potential signs of diabetes and refer him to a doctor, he had had the opportunity to have his eyes examined where this abnormality was discovered. He was immediately referred to the ophthalmology department for laser therapy which would go on to save his eyesight.