From Hampton-Richland Eagle, January 15, 1999
DOCTORS LEND AID IN NIGERIA
by Dan Wagner
Special to the Eagle
In November,
a group of seven medical members of the World Health Mission (WHM) traveled to
Nigeria, West Africa, to provide needed supplies and services to the patients
at Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH).
Dr. Robert Ford and his wife, Karen, of Hampton Township headed the trip for the eighth consecutive year. Pharmacist Dan Wagner of Pine Township and owner of Nutri-Farmacy in Wildwood made his third trip with the group.
The members of the World Health Mission, including physicians, a nurse and a pharmacist, flew from Pittsburgh to Amsterdam to Kano, a large metropolis in northern Nigeria. They were ready to meet the challenges and the adventure encountered by medically serving the needy in the Third World country.
The World Health Mission is a non-profit, charitable organization dedicated to people in need of medical care. Its principles are to provide health care, supplies and services to those in need, both domestically and internationally.
About three months before the take off, Wagner talked with WHM founder Ford and his wife, Karen, the organization's director, about the possibility of setting up a diabetes screening clinic. On previous visits, the group noticed a desperate need for such a clinic. Many Nigerians, especially middle-aged men, seemed to be afflicted by the adult onset of diabetes, and equipment for detecting and monitoring diabetes at the hospital was obsolete.
Three months before the group's scheduled departure, Wagner set out to find a source to allocate a huge supply of glucose monitors, strips, lancets and other educational material that would make the clinic practical.
After running into many stumbling blocks, another member of the group, Dr. John Moraca of Sewickley Hospital, contacted a colleague at the Bayer Corporation. Within days, the WHM had a cache of 24 Glucometer-Elites, 10,000 strips and 10,000 lancets.
The clinic was to be set up at the Jos University Teaching Hospital, a facility very familiar to the mission group. Group members were prepared to treat hundreds of patients and during the week-long mission, they also trained JUTH physicians, pharmacists and nurses on the operation of the machines.
The Nigeria Diabetic Association heard about the endeavor and broadcast the free clinic services on the radio the day before its scheduled opening. When the clinic doors opened, more than 500 people were waiting to take advantage of the WHM's services. As the week progressed, the initial chaos subsided and mission members were efficiently taking blood samples and recording data, and were better able to communicate with non-English speaking patients.
The Nigerian people were very appreciative, not only for the services, but for the free medicine or bottles of vitamins that were being dispensed. The local television station was on hand and members of the WHM group were on the Nigerian-style 6 p.m. news. At the end of the week, WHM volunteers had logged data and done screening on more than 1,200 people.
In addition, JUTH'S staff had the resources to continue to test nearly 9,000 more patients.
This is the true spirit of the mission, not to have doctors do surgeries and procedures for a few weeks, but to train and educate the native health professionals so that they can continue to provide quality services.
Home
Copyright © 1999-2006 Danaura
Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.
2506 Wildwood Road, P.O. Box 238, Wildwood, PA 15091
Phone: 412-486-8595 or toll free 1-877-289-7478
Fax: 412-486-4898
Email: info@nutrifarmacy.com