Moyale Hospital

The other day I had the privilege of escorting a sick Mzungu (Swahili for white man) to the nearest hospital as we felt he required pathological testing that we weren't able to diagnose from the mobile TDA nurse and paramedic run clinic/lunch truck. I'm not going to share anymore details about his illness here as I have an ethical obligation to patient confidentiality but I will state that he is back to his normal self and there is absolutely no need for anyone to be concerned.

The sick Mzungu scored a 4 hour hospital admission to Moyale Hospital and the African health care system really hit me hard. I had an awareness that the health system was poor, but it's not until I saw it up close with my own eyes that it really made an impact.

There are two other men sharing the same room as the Mzungu. One speaks pretty good English and I learn the he has Malaria. He looks to be roughly the same age as me. The other is much younger - 14 maybe. He is very sick. I try and find out what's wrong with him and the man with Malaria tells me he has a sore throat and hasn't been able to eat for 3 weeks - but I know there must be more to it than that. He has IV fluids running. No one seems to care about taking a set of vital signs. His lungs sound terrible - he has a death rattle. His body is emaciated. Around him are his family who sit him up so he can breathe better. He vomits into a bucket, passes urine into the same bucket. There aren't many nurses. His family take the bucket away and wash it out.

The hospital is not very clean, everything is old, the assessment equipment is very basic. I'd be surprised to find a cardiac monitor, a defibrillator, a blood gas machine or any of these basic essentials that you would expect to find in a hospital at home. There's people sick with Malaria, yet no mosquito nets.

As I ride my bike through the countryside I notice that the people aren't old. 40 is considered old for the people that live in these parts of the world.

I clamp the Mzungus IV fluids myself when the bag empties because there is no one else around. He's doing ok and I think we can do a better job looking after him on the lunch truck after all. Time to push for a discharge.