AID Village Clinic's Mbirikani Clinic is proud to welcome two new physicians (Medical Officers) Dr. Danstan Achwoka and Dr. Koriata Simat to our site bringing the total number of physicians on site to 5. Dr. Simat is pictured.
Nutrition is a critical problem for our patients as the weather becomes more erratic and food becomes more scarce. In the dry season, which continues to increase in length, the cattle are driven to higher ground for better grazing. Removing the cattle from accessibility to the homes, means that there is no milk for the children. Since 2005, we have been using Plumpy Nut, a nutritional supplement manufactured by Nutriset in France to boost the nutritional status of some of our most seriously nutritionally depleted patients, including children. The ingredients include: Vegetable fat, soya flour, peanut paste, whey powder, mineral and vitamin complex.One easily consumed sachet contains 500 kilocalories. We currently distribute 195,000 sachets per year. Additionally, we distribute UniMix, a 70% corn, 30% soy dry cereal product. Our MONTHLY distribution rate is three tons.
All of our products are distributed without charge to our patients. We have learned that stabilizing a patient requires food, medicine and highly skilled individualized care.
AID Village Clinics' Mbirikani clinic is seeking a nurse educator qualified to work with our skilled nurses to provide continuing medical education. The successful candidate must have a minimum of a BSN, MSN preferred, along with a minimum of 2 years teaching experience in a qualified school or college of nursing and be licensed by the Nurse Practitioners Board in Kenya. Candidate must be able to teach BSL and AED techniques, as well to assist the staff nurses with patient care. Position requires candidate to live on site Mon - Friday and is a one year contract position with competitive salary. The successful candidate, will, if desired, be provided a one months' visit to the campus of a US University nursing or medical program, subject to securing appropriate visas and clearances, for her own continuing education on completion of the contract; details to be tailored to individual needs. Please respond with letter and CV to: "info@aidvillageclinics.org" AID Village Clinics is a US Registered 501 C3 charity operating not-for-profit clinics in Kenya.
Mid June until Mid July 2008, we will have a team on site to create and film a DVD for our use in patient education. This DVD will be divided into "chapters" of topical interest for the residents of our surrounding communities and, we believe, will be the first educational DVD done in the Maasai language. This effort will strengthen and add consistency to our messages regarding initiatives at the personal and family level, which will improve public health. Topics will include "hygiene", "HIV/AIDS", "Pregnancy and Infant Care", "A Photographic Tour of the Clinic Facility", "How Do I Know To Seek Medical Care For Myself Or My Children", and "Immediate Care of Bites, Stings, Burns and Injuries". Viewing of the DVD will take place at our waiting shed as well as in the community at gatherings of residents. We will provide a monitor, DVD player, and a small generator for these presentations. We are seeking donations to fund this initiative.
Over the course of the last 3 years, we have made a significant effort to distribute Insecticide Treated Mosquito Nets free to all families with children under 5, all pregnant women, and all of our HIV/AIDS infected patients. Last year, we were approached by several older Maasai men asking why they had been left out of our distribution program. We felt we had fulfilled our initial target and opened up our mosquito net distribution program to anyone who wanted and would use a net. We have distributed well over 7000 nets in this program (most children sleep with the mother; therefore one net protects many family members). We recognized in our day to day practice at the clinic that the number of patients presenting with signs of malaria had significantly reduced. When we queried our database, we found the following remarkable and gratifying results in regard to the number of malaria cases treated: Malaria Number of cases seen at the clinic in 2005: 544; Number of cases seen at the clinic in 2006: 337; Number of cases seen at the clinic in 2007: 34. We are thrilled that a fairly simple intervention has resulted in this lifesaving reduction in the incidence of Malaria in our catchment area and we thank our Community Health Workers on motorbikes who have provided our distribution network to get these nets out to even our most remotely located families.
Rabies is an increasing problem in our area impacting domestic animals, wildlife and humans. We see the implications of this most profoundly when presented with a child who has been viciously attacked by a sick dog. One baby was killed in 2006 by a dog presumed rabid. In the two and a half years since our clinics opening, several children have required extensive treatment of bite wounds, and we have had four human deaths attributed to rabies. These victims were not treated prophylacticly after exposure.
From January to November, 2007, AID Village Clinics Mbirikani Clinic treated 213 people, men, women and children for animal bites; most of these were dog bites, but recently, and for the first time, one was a hyena attack. The hyena tested positive for Rabies, and there have been additional reports of sick hyenas. Most of the dog attacks were presumed to be from Rabies-infected dogs, and most of the patients required Rabies Immune Globulin and the series of Rabies Vaccines. Our clinic is the only facility in the district that stocks this life saving vaccine. Rabies in the wildlife is a worrisome problem for the viability of the animal population. This disease, a viral disease of mammals, is one in which the health and welfare of humans is impacted directly by the health status of the wildlife.
We are soliciting assistance from various agencies to help assess this situation and make recommendations to protect the fragile systems relatedness that exists between the humans and animals in our environment.
AID Village Clinics is proud that we have become a role model for the young people in Mbirikani and the surrounding area. Students seem more motivated to remain in school and some are pursuing careers in the medical field. Kenya has a total of 8 Maasai physicians, all men, one of whom currently is employed at our Mbirikani Clinic. This year, two local Maasai women were admitted to Medical School and associates of AID Village Clinics are sponsoring their education. Pictured above is the Chief, Moses Kilowua and his daughter, Lydia Munteyian Kilowua, one of these two young women.