Learning is the best medicine in Malawi

Zomba District Hospital, Malawi: Prevention is better than cure. A UNV volunteer doctor in Malawi is putting this adage into practice with an educational programme that harnesses the volunteer spirit.

UNV volunteer Medical Officer Dr. Vincent Okey Onah works at Zomba Central Hospital in the south of Malawi. One of only four referral hospitals in the country, it serves nine districts – covering over a quarter of Malawi's population – and is frequently full to bursting. For example, during the rainy season the 68-bed paediatric ward sometimes has to cater for 350 children.

"What could we do to reduce congestion in ward nine?" Dr. Onah remembers asking himself. "How could we reduce child mortality – Millennium Development Goal number four – in this part of the globe?" Dr. Onah realized that many of the problems he was treating were preventable, and that if parents were better-informed then they could nip diseases in the bud before professional medical care was necessary.

The 'Mother and Child for Life' initiative Dr. Onah came up with aims to develop local knowledge and help prevent potentially fatal illnesses such as diarrhoea, malaria, pneumonia and anaemia, and also HIV/AIDS. The programme covers a wide spectrum, from training on healthy and balanced diets to detecting the early signs of child sickness and caring for a child in hospital.

'Mother and Child for Life' began in March 2008, drawing 280 women to the first outdoor instruction session. Since then, Dr. Onah and his colleagues are going the extra mile to voluntarily offer more health care lessons, now held every Monday and Wednesday morning. "Everybody in the hospital knows the importance of the programme and is getting involved," says Dr. Onah.

While Dr.Onah prepares the contents, the lessons are delivered in local languages and dialects by clinical officers and nurses. The women are encouraged to ask questions, which sometimes requires sensitive handling by the hospital staff, but understanding modern medicine is reducing peoples' suspicion of it. "Some women used to think the nasogastric tubes and oxygen we use would kill their children," Dr. Onah explains, "but they now freely allow clinicians and nurses to use them."

Dr. Onah estimates that several thousand women have attended in the last months. Though at present the health care sessions are only offered to parents and guardians whose children have already been admitted to Zomba Central Hospital, they then share what they have learned with neighbours, thus spreading knowledge of preventable diseases through their own voluntary action. "The plan is to visit more districts and give talks in other towns," says Dr. Onah, who is seeking suitable partner organizations.

One of the results of the health care sessions has been an increased use of mosquito nets around Zomba, which should help prevent malaria infection. Several people have also come forward for HIV testing for themselves and their children, and are accepting the counselling the hospital offers.

Originally from Nigeria, Dr. Onah first came to Malawi with UNV in March 2006 where he worked at a smaller district hospital in Mangochi. "This opened my eyes to many things," remarks Dr. Onah, "so when I came to Zomba in January 2008 I wanted to achieve more than just treatment… If we can teach people how to prevent diseases, we can keep people from coming back to the hospital."

Though it is impossible to guagel the exact numbers, without doubt the UNV volunteer initiative has helped saved lives. "Many procedures are getting easier, and when you look at the ward the congestion is decreasing," says Dr. Onah. "Things are changing."