TB Clinic

Today we went to look at another site that we can choose to do our service. I have been looking forward to coming to this site since the trip started. This was a TB day clinic in one of the township areas. They also treated many patients with HIV/AIDS because one usually co-exists with the other due to a weak immune system. There was ONE doctor who worked at the clinic for 1,000 patients. There are many sections of the clinic such as pediatrics, pregnant women, TB patients, and HIV positive patients. There is also a nurse who runs a youth clinic where she gives pregnancy tests and sexually tramsmitted disease tests to groups of teenage girls who come in, most whose parents do not even know they are there. Most people if not all people in the townships can not afford a family doctor so they go to get treated at these public clinics. All medication is free at these clinics. However, there are still many obstacles. First of all, the waiting room was packed. We got there at about 2:30pm and mothers had been waiting with their sick babies since 7am to get in to see the nurse. After the tour of the clinic, I started thinking of projects I could potentially start there if I do in fact choose this for my service. One major problem that stuck out to me was the access to medication. Once the doctor prescribes the medication, a social worker must go to the home and make sure the patient does not drink at home and has food to take their medication with. So, even if you have access to the medication, you may be denied it if you do not have enough food to take it with. There is such a shortage of staff, they do not have the time or the resources to deal with problems such as this. Another problem is just lack of education. They have access to many types of birth control but people are not proactive about it. Girls are being tested for pregnancy and STDs AFTER the fact. Education about medication is also crucial. Many people stop taking medication if they begin to feel better, stop taking it because of side effects, or refuse because of cultural beliefs. I think if I end up working here, thinking outside the box and proposing your own ideas is going to be the key. Counseling was another aspect of the clinic. If a patient's test results are HIV positive, they get three counseling sessions. I think they have the right idea going in this direction but THREE sessions is not nearly enough to cope with the fact you have been diagnosed with a terminating disease. It was very overwhelming and sad but at the same time inspiring to think of endless areas that we could help.