Hospital update

So I am coming close to the end of my time here at KCMC. Things have been really good here and it has been a great experience. It has however highlighted the problems that are faced daily in medicine in not only Tanzania but Africa as a whole. This has further reinforced my desire to raise money for the Friends of KCMC charity by climbing Kilimanjaro.

• For the last year, KCMC has been without a functional CT scanner - their 17-year-old one has broken (I presume beyond repair) and costs $1.5 million for a new one. Patients have to go to Arusha to have a scan - if they can afford it - the cost being $200.
• When I arrived, the lab had been unable to carry out electrolyte levels for 4 months. This situation has not improved since, but rather got worse. We are still without electrolytes and now no longer are able to do liver function tests and some other basic blood work. This changes on a daily basis depending on whether the machines pass the control tests for that day.
• The ECG has been out of order for the last few days. This has been a vital piece of equipment, particularly in the absence of electrolyte tests as the ECG can pick up changes in the heart as a result of imbalances in sodium and (more importantly) potassium levels.
• For the last 6 weeks, there has been a 19-year-old on the ward with Hodgkin's lymphoma - a disease of the lymph glands which, if treated optimally, has a survival rate of between 80-90%. Sadly, for the last 5 out of 6 weeks, he and his family were unable to afford the cost for the complete regimen of chemotherapy for him. He deteriorated and at one point a week ago, we thought he was going to die. Thankfully, he improved with some steroids in a last-ditch attempt to give him some time. Thankfully, over the last week, his family have raised enough money to get him to the Ocean Road cancer centre in Dar es Salaam. This is a government run institution and, once there, his treatment will be free. Although he is still very sick, he might still pull through. Whether I will every find out this outcome I do not know.

It is a sad reality that these problems are ones that we simply do not see back at home. This short list is far from exhaustive of the challenges and short-comings I have encountered thus far. We are more fortunate with the NHS than we might first think.

If anyone has not yet sponsored me for my Kilimanjaro climb, and would like to, then can I refer you to:

http://www.justgiving.com/James-Nathan

Asante sana  (Thank you very much)