A few years ago a young German nurse took up residence in Waama and started to build, with the help of the local population, a small dispensary. Today this little clinic is working day and night. The only doctor (Dr. Joshua Gurti) lives in the dispensary and is assisted by two midwives. Together they tend more than 6.000 patients a year.
Highly prevalent diseases are malaria, respiratory infections (as pneumonia), diarrhoea and conjunctivitis. The local dispensary is a maternity home as well as a vaccination centre for children from the whole area. The government provides vaccines free of charge.
The patients who cannot be treated locally have to be transferred to the regional clinic in Katesh.
Some of the patients walk over 10 miles to consult and every year their number doubles. The dispensary disposes of very little means and is rapidly becoming too small… Interventions, deliveries and the sterilisation of surgical instruments take place, out of necessity, in one and the same room. This highly increases the risks of infection. The lack of space, medication and medical appliances is becoming more acute every day.
