I heard this phrase only in the media and in history or geography textbooks growing up. I was born and raised in the city, I went to med school and got placed in a rural hospital. There I got to meet her, ገጠሪቱ ኢትዮጵያ. The humble population that lives in harmony with natural sustenance; cattle herding and farming days followed by evenings spent by a fire.
It has been 20 days since the first COVID-19 patient has been reported in Ethiopia. I see the number increasing slowly and steadily. The fear among health professionals is also increasing. We have been in contact with our counterparts in cities and the tension in their voices is palpable; for good reason.
My colleagues have been going to trainings for the past week taking turns. Asking them about it, I can not help getting the gist that these trainings were/are more on the “hypothetical” level of things. Basic hygiene equipments have been placed around the hospital, any further is pretty much daydreaming. Multiple makeshift hand washing staequipocicaleen built around town.
Mondays and Fridays are particularly busy days for the hospital as they are market days of the town, people gather from near and far. We have been using this as an opportunity to educate on hygiene, hand washing practices and the concept of social distancing. Seeing a health officer with a handheld megaphone or hearing a blast of the COVID-19 signs and symptoms from the ambulance’s speaker has become a normal occurrence on these days. Nonetheless these markets remain a ripe ground for transmission.
The current algorithm in place is that if we were to suspect a case with the signs and symptoms, the first step is to put him/her in an isolated area and inquire a detailed history. The key points being, in addition to many others, any history of travel to an area/country where the disease has been reported and a history of contact with a person who has traveled to such place or has been a confirmed COVID-19 case, followed by a thorough contact tracing.
After that the best we can do is supportive treatment, symptom relief and addressing other issues, be it psychological or other comorbidities. Then the patient is transferred to a higher facility that has a better equipment and isolation area from where samples are sent for confirmation.
From the patient’s point of view this has to be a terrible process to go through by yourself, especially for the elderly. But note that it is equally dreadful for the professional who is caring for a patient without a complete personal protective equipment (PPE) except a facemask and disposable examination gloves. Unless we have tests at a bigger scale we won’t know the true extent of it, hence no one is exempt at this point.
Standing amid the bustling market, the thought at the back of our minds remains that this poor, naive and innocent society is in a very dire situation. Poverty and lack of education on top of ill preparedness have stacked up the odds against us. But then again isn’t this the reality for most of our country? Hasn’t it always been? I can only hope to God that when the time comes that we pull together with whatever we can muster and whoever is available to finally say it’s over and live to tell how it all went down. Most importantly, what we have learned from it.
ባለንበት ራሳችንን እንጠብቅ፡፡
የጤና ወግ
በመረጃ የተመሰረተ ሕክምና ብቻ ።
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
ይህ የጤና ወግ ድረ ገፅ ነው።
ስለ ጤንነታችሁ ማወቅ የምትፈልጉትን መረጃ የምታገኙበት ፣ በህክምና ባለሙያዎች የሚዘጋጅ የመረጃ ምንጭ ነው።
ሁልግዜም ከሀኪማችሁ ተማከሩ፣ ተጨማሪ መረጃ ከፈለጋችሁ የኛን ድረ ገፅ ጎብኙ።
በጥናት የተደገፈ መረጃ ብቻ እናቀርባለን።
የህክምና ባለሙያዎች ለህሙማኖቻችሁ የሚሆን የሚነበብ መረጃ ከፈለጋችሁ ይህን ግፅ ጠቁሟቸው። ህሙማኖቻችሁ እንዲያውቁት የምትፈልጉትን ነገር መረጃ ጠቅሳችሁ ፃፉልን፣ ስምችሁን ጠቅሰን እናወጣለን። የህክምና ተማሪዎች እንዲጽፉ እናበረታታለን።
በተጨማሪም በጤና ወግ ፖድካስት፣ በ ዩትዩብ ፣በ ትዊተር ፣ በ ፌስቡክ ፣ በቴሌግራም የተለያዩ የማህበራዊ ሚዲያ ገፆቻችን ታገኙናላችሁ ።
