The first half year of operation in retrospect: the staff forms, education is in need, COVID turbulence

The employees, all from the region, have developed into a well-coordinated team in the first few months. Two doctors, two nurses, a nursing assistant, a laboratory technician, two administrative staff and a Nightwatch/Gardener – this team takes care of the patients reliably, professionally and very motivated. As soon as the staff became familiar with the laboratory equipment and the new working environment, the COVID-19 virus presented the entire health center with new challenges. From that moment on, the focus was on awareness campaigns and training to slow the spread of the virus. More on this but later in this newsletter. Below are the key figures for the last 6 months:

• 425 patients visited the health centre.
• The patients were in the health centre 607 times.
• Of these, 60 cases of malaria were diagnosed.
• In addition to malaria, many patients have also visited the centre for gastrointestinal inflammation and stomach ulcers.

The last few months have shown us that the health center is fulfilling its purpose, but that we still have a lot to do. In the near future, we plan to expand the solar system so that we can operate all laboratory equipment safely and independently (regardless of the regular power outages of the public grid), as well as to install a pharmacist window to simplify the dispensing of medication to patients and thus reduce contact with staff – due to Corona – to the necessary minimum.

The first 6 months of the year were very challenging because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Especially for us here, in a community where many people strongly believe in the misinformation spread online through social media. But on another side, this situation gave us the unique opportunity to do many community outreach and thus to connect with the community on a deeper level. So despite the challenges, I can say it was a good period because I believe the seeds we planted during that time, will bear many fruits in the future. Dr. Armand Njimafo