Reports from Swaziland

I apologize for the delayed posts—we have little to no internet access in Swaziland. Hopefully, pictures will come in a month. Yiwen and I will be in Swaziland, Africa at the BIPAI (Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative) Center of Excellence for the next 5 weeks, before we head to St. Gabriel’s Hospital in Malawi.

Swaziland is a beautiful, mountainous, land-locked country in north-eastern South Africa. The country has one of the highest HIV prevalence rates in the world, and has an infant mortality rate of about 69 deaths / 1,000 live births.

The BIPAI Center of Excellence was launched in Mbabane on February 24^th, 2006 with a mission to provide children, parents, and siblings with antiretroviral therapy and follow-up care, to build a support system of local clinicians, and to establish HIV/AIDS outreach services. To say the least, the clinic is well on its way to achieving its goals.

Yiwen and I will have two major goals to accomplish during our five weeks here—first, to support the clinic’s mission by working on several projects assigned to us by Dr. Stephanie Marton (more about that later), and second, to increase access to basic diagnostics and treatment in the area.

Specifically, we have four projects that we hope to incorporate into our visit at either the BIPAI COE clinic in Swaziland, or at the hospital in Malawi:

1. Medical Diagnostic Lab-in-a-Backpack—The main purpose of this hiking backpack is to provide fast, basic diagnostic health care to inaccessible villages. All of the tools in the backpack can be battery-powered and solar-charged. The backpack contains all of the essential medical equipment that a physician in the field might need, including an oil emersion microscope, a centrifuge, an otoscope and ophthalmoscope, a glucometer, urinalysis strips, a pulse oximeter, essential first aid supplies, and several other diagnostic tools. Our goal is to test, evaluate, and provide feedback for further development of this project.

2. Community Health Worker (CHW) Screening Kit—The purpose of this backpack is to equip community health workers (CHWs) with tools for providing basic first aid care and diagnostics. The backpack contains several tools to be used in rural communities, including: pregnancy tests, a scale, first aid supplies, urinalysis strips, and several other tools. The CHW Screening Kit differs from the Medical Diagnostic Lab-in-a-Backpack in that the Lab-in-a-Backpack is designed to be used by physicians, while the CHW screening kit does not require professional training for use. Our aim is to train CHWs to utilize the tools of the backpack and to assess for future additions.

3. UV Bililights—The UV Bililight is an inexpensive device used to treat neonatal jaundice. This condition is common in upwards of 70% of newborns. The device that we have brough costs less than $50 to build, and uses simple circuitry components such as blue LEDs to reach standard efficiency. Our objective is to test the efficiency and sustainability of self-constructing the device in a low-resource area.

4. Incubator—The incubator is an economical way to provide an ideal, healthy environment for newborn babies. Normally, incubators and phototherapy treatment units costs $1500 – $2500, require high maintenance, and are therefore unaffordable in developing countries. This design can be built for less than $50, and relies on four light bulbs. This project has potential for microfinance collaboration; however, our goal is to train locals to build the incubators and evaluate future improvements.

Dr. Marton has already suggested several projects for us to get started on around the clinic, including organizing their resource center, developing a system for tracking x-rays, and fundraising for their teen club.

Now that our projects have been introduced, I should say a few things—I am enormously thankful for the opportunity that has been provided by Rice University Beyond Traditional Borders, Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and everyone else who has contributed to the funding of this internship. Service depends on support. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

“Praise the bridge that carried you over.”

-George Colman