Health and Development, oh my!

I’ve been able to gather some more thoughts on some of the challenges Ghana, and for that matter much of Africa and the developing world, face when struggling to alleviate poverty. This, very simply and brutally obvious now that I am here, are matters of health.
One of the links between hot climates and poverty is all the diseases that come along with hot, wet weather (yet another argument for combating climate change). Just to name off a few of the common diseases: malaria, yellow fever, typhoid fever, bacteria (e.coli, cholera, etc), parasites, worms, with which comes a horrific array of symptoms, most of which include unrelenting diarrhea, abdominal pains and fever. But in Canada we have colds, throat infections and the flu, that’s pretty bad…much to my lucky surprise these are also common afflictions in the rainy season here as well. Oh, and don’t forget the side affects of the medications that you take in vain to try and avoid these sicknesses. Not being the strongest person at fighting off illnesses to begin with, I knew I would have challenges with health, but I never knew the kind of frustration that ensues. Since I have been here I have basically been sick the whole time with one thing or another, and had some interesting experiences at the Damongo hospital and “Licensed Chemical Sellers” (aka pharmacies) around town. Being sick in Ghana is frustrating, and its not just because I am a foreigner either. Everyone is getting sick. The rainy season is beautiful and a nice temperature, but it’s the disease season.

For me, I am frustrated because I want to be at work and doing things to help people and do something useful while I am here, but sometimes, am not able to go. Sure I can find other things to do with my time if it’s something ‘mild’ and I can think clearly (like right now), but what kind of impression does it make if I miss most of the work week? How can I get frustrated at my coworkers for not working hard or having an unmotivated attitude if I am not even at work? People here understand when you are sick…that’s why sometimes things take a long time to get underway. That’s just in the office though, and I am just a volunteer. What if feeding, housing and clothing yourself and your immediate AND extended family depended on it? Working at anything, even if it is just around the house when you are riddled with energy-sucking parasites and shaking with a fever is not easy or enabling people to help themselves.

The Damongo hospital is very nice, I am a regular now, got some friends who work there, which is embarrassing, but nice. I shamefully get shuffled to the front of the lines after they leave me in a huge mob of a line for about 15 minutes when I say I want to wait, but I still wait there all day, so it doesn’t really make too much of a difference in the end. When you arrive, you give in your identity card and health insurance if you have it. Then you sit in a big line, they retrieve a card that has your health info on it. Then you wait. Then you see a nurse and she takes your temperature, blood pressure, pulse and weight (where I always realize how unhealthily light I have become). Then you wait to see a doctor. You see them, and then they say to get a bunch of tests done. Malaria is always tested for in this season (and usually the default treatment, because the symptoms are so diverse and there are so many strains) and its usually accompanied by a stool sample. Nurses, doctors, bio-statisticians and lab technicians are all very friendly and professional (unlike what I was warned of before I came, which is comforting). For the malaria test, they prick your finger and smear it on a slide, and for the stool test, well, you poop in an impossibly small jar, but they only need a little, as they reminded me after my first exasperated attempt. Then there is plenty of waiting. I admire the people who are waiting. It is mostly mothers and babies, small kids and old men. There are very few who complain. They sit in on wooden benches (the sides are open to the outside, so thankfully there is a nice breeze coming through), packed together in their beautiful cloth, for the most part quietly. It works like a clinic that takes a really long time, and you don’t get much personal attention, your test results speak for you. So usually about 3 hours later, you make your way back to the doctor, show him the results and he writes you a prescription, go to the pharmacy and pay and pick it up and go home with baggies of medicine, feeling worse than when you came, as is usually the case at any health centre.
The frustrating thing is, if your results don’t do your symptoms justice, oh well…then comes the dangerous game of playing doctor yourself. For those who can’t afford to wait or to pay for the hospital visit, you must diagnose yourself. It’s frustrating to always be sick and to have so little control. To give you an idea about self-diagnosing, some drugs that require a prescription at home can be bought over the counter at a low price…Flagyl, used to treat parasites cost me 20 peswas (the same amount I pay to buy 5 bananas, or a bag of groundnut paste, or a meal in town)…this is very cheap! Coming into Ghana it was recommended that I take an antibiotic ‘cipero’ for bad diarrhea, and I was confused when nobody knew about it and was always talking about this Flagyl. Well the difference is, cipero costs 2.50 whereas Flagyl is 0.20. That says it right there, so whether the locals or the travel doctor has it right, the cheapest drug clearly become the drug of choice when self-diagnosing.

What’s my point? Health is important to development!! Painfully obvious, but worth reiterating. Good healthcare services and education, sanitation and clean water are vital. In Canada I think these things get taken for granted because aside from a few cases we can count on one hand, contaminated water, food poisoning and endemic viruses are not our primary concern. I am feeling the weight and importance of what I am learning in school more and more. Partially the people here are really unlucky because these causes of illnesses are more prevalent because of climate, but so many of these sicknesses are preventable, or would be less disruptive with a more efficient system. I think Damongo has a pretty good facility, better than I was expecting, but its no where near as good as how we have it in Canada and it serves not just the people in Damongo, but all the surrounding villages of the district.