I visited a small rural hospital last week: Nhamatanda is in a town of about 10,000 (my guess) , and the hospital serves a district of about 500,000. There are two doctors, and six ¨technico´s¨, who are more or less like PA´s, but trained to do specific procedures like C-Sections. Currently there are also 6 medical students, which is (or is not?), a good thing, since both of the doctors are gone right now. The first photo is of a lab tech showing us their new CD4 counter, a piece of equipment which is essential for treating AIDS patients. It was purchased for the hospital by the Clinton Foundation.
The HIV rate in this area is 29%. About 10% of HIV(+) individuals are on anti-retrovirals (provided through funding from the US at a cost of about $100 per year per person).
The second picture shows family members of patients cooking food for themselves and the patients in an area set aside for this.
The most common reasons for hospitalization are malaria and childbirth . They do about 250 deliveries a month, and have a 3% C-section rate. (Maybe that should be a little bit higher, since Mozambique is tied with Sierra Leon for the highest neonatal mortality in the world!). There is also about a 1% incidence of uterine rupture, for unclear reasons (a study is in progress). The third photo shows pregnant women at a hostel on the hospital grounds where they come and stay when they are close to delivery. May live too far away to wait at home, especially during the rainy season.
The two most common surgeries are 1) hernia repair and 2) intestinal obstruction due to ascaris (pork tapeworm) infection. The fourth photo is of one of the medical students showing us around.
In addition to surgical, obstetrical, pediatric and general medicine wards, this hospital has separate wards for TB, leprosy, and malaria, and a tent for cholera patients. The last photo is the cholera tent.
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