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| Bina brings her sick daughter to be seen by CARE's medical team. (2007 William Dowell/CARE) |
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NORTH SHANBANDHA, Bangladesh (August 24, 2007) - A 19-year old mother, Bina, stands in line with her 8-month old daughter, waiting for her turn to talk with a member of one of the CARE medical teams that have been working in some of the poorest flood-stricken areas of Bangladesh. Bina's daughter, Nina, has been suffering from diarrhea for the last week.
The news that the CARE medical team would come to the village was spread the day before by the local Village Development Committee (VDC) and CARE's local partner, Bangladesh's National Development Program. Volunteers went from village to village with hand held loudspeakers and personal visits to announce the team's arrival. Bina, whose village is roughly a mile away, explains that she would never have been able to see a doctor, if the CARE team had not arrived. Regular medical facilities are simply too far away. There are no roads in this area, and everyone travels by boat. The CARE medical team was her only chance to get treatment for an illness that can easily prove fatal for an infant. | Women from flood-stricken areas wait in line for medical attention. (2007 William Dowell/CARE) |
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"If these children get proper treatment, they can be well in about a month," says Dr. Barnabus Hasdak, who is normally stationed at Dhaka's community hospital, but volunteered to work with CARE. "If the children get dysentery, they can die in a few days if they don't get treatment," Dr. Hasdak explains. Bangladesh health authorities have been reporting 900 to 1,000 new cases of acute diarrhea a day, and more than 60,000 cases since the beginning of the flood. An emergency wing has been set up in Dhaka's International Center for Diarrhoeal Diseases, but most of these villages are too remote and too poor to send patients to the capital. Besides diarrhoea, there are rising umbers of acute respiratory infections and malnutrition is also a recurring problem. Sometimes it is simply a question of knowing the right things to eat. While Dr. Hasdak consulted with patients, a CARE health worker delivered messages on nutrition and birth preparedness to several dozen pregnant women. Some had had several babies previously, but had never before been in contact with a doctor or had contact with healthcare professionals. While treatment is available in major towns and cities, people living in more remote villages are often left to fend for themselves. For instance, the son of Manwera, a young mother, has been suffering from jaundice, apparent in a yellowing around the eyes, for more than a month. Unable to get to a qualified doctor, she had been forced to consult a local self-taught "doctor" whose knowledge about medicine was undetermined at best. In contrast, the CARE medical team provides both counseling and a chance to spot serious cases that may need more attention. "Most regular doctors would have little interest in coming to a remote place like this," explains Dr. Hasdak. "It is really only the government and the NGOs who come here." The team headed by Dr. Hasdak is only one of ten medical teams that CARE has established in partnership with Dhaka Community Hospital (DCH) to cover the most affected remote and un-served flood areas. They are attempting to visit as many villages in outlying areas as possible — many of the villages are only accessible after several hours in a boat. How much CARE can accomplish depends to a great extent on the funding from major donors and private citizens.
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