WVU :: School of Medicine :: Community Medicine

Department of Community Medicine

Patients Gain Care, Student Perspective from Kenya Trip

Editor’s Note: The following was written by Dana Beasley, a community medicine graduate student, her husband Ben Beasley, a fourth year medical student, and Tina Slusher, MD, a pediatric intensivist. The group visited the Tenwek Mission Hospital, one of the largest mission hospitals in Africa. Tenwek, in western Kenya, provides primary healthcare to more than a half-million people within a 20-mile radius and serves a a referral center for a much larger region.

Dana Beasley weighs a baby for a woman at a public health clinic. As a public health student, my experience working at a mission hospital in Kenya made me realize the glaring difference between chronic disease prevalent in the U.S. and the infectious disease rampant in Kenya.

Education through the use of trained community health workers is the primary means to stop the spread of these crippling diseases. The needs of these people are basic, such as bed nets for the prevention of malaria, and supplies of condoms hr the prevention of HIV/AIDS.

Even at the hospital, supplies are limited. Gloves are not worn during some procedures in which bodily fluids could transmit a variety of infectious diseases. Furthermore, basic hand washing between patients is not routine among healthcare workers. One sink, which contains one bar of soap and one hand towel, is used for an entire ward.

In addition to the infectious diseases that flourish, there are many other public health issues with which to contend. Most of the people do not have running water and electricity and cook their food in open pits within their homes. As one can imagine, more than a few children were admitted to the hospital as a result of burns. Machete wounds are also common -- at a young age, children are responsible for helping to collect wood.

Psychosocial problems are a big issue. Sadly, during my brief stay, there were at least 10 individuals who overdosed on a substance known as Triatix, a chemical used to treat lice and ticks on cattle, goats and other livestock.

The incidence of suicide is high in this region, perhaps as a result of the many challenges the people face.

On a much healthier note, I welcomed the opportunity to go to a Kipsigees village with the community health workers. In a village church, nurses administered measles and tetanus vaccinations, educated mothers about family planning, and gave prenatal check-ups to mothers, while we weighed babies and recorded their measurements on a growth chart.

My experience in Kenya was deeply rewarding. I was able to gain a different perspective of public health through my work in the hospital and villages. I have a greater appreciation for how fortunate we are in the U.S. We have the public health infrastructure that allows most of us to lead healthy lives with little fear of our family members dying from infectious disease.

This article originally appeared on page 3 of the January 2003 issue of The Center.