Xellia report 1/2015

CREATING VALUE TOGETHER

Photo: Jens Honoré

XELLIA REPORT 1/2015

SOS MEDICAL CENTER ELDORET

POVERTY AFFECTS CHILDREN’S HEALTH Limited acces to medical care causes great problems for the population in Kenya. With funding from Xellia The SOS Medical Center in Eldoret has expanded its outreach and is now helping more people than before.

Photo: Jens Honoré

The SOS Medical Center in Eldoret in Kenya is located in an area with approximately two million people and only a few medical clinics and hospitals. Clients come from far away and many travel as far as 100 km to visit a doctor.Poverty prevails in the cities and in the countryside causing many health related problems among the population.

2

XELLIA REPORT 1/2015

In January 2015 Xellia and SOS Children’s Villages Denmark entered a partnership. During a three year period Xellia will provide full funding of the SOS Medical Centre Eldoret. A stable financial situation is of great importance for the center.

In the first five months of 2015 the center has increased the intake of patients and the activities at the laboratory and in the pharmacy has gone up.

“The Eldoret Medical Center has seen growth in areas of service provision to the target group and other community members. The success rate of t reatment is very high as patients have benefitted

from the quality of services offered,” says Angela Ndaga, Doctor in Charge of SOS Children’s Villages Medicial Centers in Kenya.

CHILDREN DIE OF SIMPLE DISEASES The clinic treats about five children a day alone with pneumonia. Young children living in poor slum neighborhoods often catch colds from living under poor housing conditions, and at least two children a day shows up at the medical center suffering from dehydration due solely to poverty.

Many families do not have access to clean drinking water, so the children drink polluted water, catches diarea and gets dehydrated.

THE ELDORET MEDICAL CENTER HAS SEEN GROWTH IN AREAS OF SERVICE PROVISION TO THE TARGET GROUP AND OTHER COMMUNITY MEMBERS. Doctor Celestine Mukitev

”Children die of dehydration simply because they are poor. The poorest families cannot afford to pay the 200 Kenyan Shillings (14 DKR), it costs

CALEB CAN NOW PLAY FOOTBALL AND ATTEND SCHOOL Caleb Gatundu is suffering from rheumatic fever. The eight year old boy caught the condition/disease when he was only two years old. Caleb was too weak to walk or even play. His breathing was troubled and he became tired very quickly. His mother had to carry him on her back. When she couldn’t carry him any further, she sat or lay him down and he looked at all the other kids playing.

It was a difficult period for his parents Jane and Bobby Gatundu and their two children. They had to sell everything they owned - their land with the family’s house, three cows, three goats and a television. The money went to pay for Caleb’s medicine and transportation back and forth to the hospital.

When the money from the divestment ran out, fortunately Caleb’s mother Jane heard about the SOS Children’s Villages Medical Center in Eldoret. Receiving treatment at the center Caleb’s condition has greatly improved. He can now play football for hours with the other children. Also the cost of medicine and transportation has been reduced. With this financial flexibility Jane and Bobby Gatundu are now able to send their children to school.

Still the family has problems making ends meet. The father has a small grocery shop and his income barely covers rent and food. Caleb’s mother has to work from 5AM in the morning till late night repackaging and selling grain, beans and lentils to pay for school fees. But education is a priority for the Gatundus, and it is now possible thanks to the SOS Medical Center in Eldoret and the hard work of Caleb’s parents.

Doctor Celestine Mukite is giving Caleb a medical examination. Thanks to the services provided by the SOS Medical Center in Eldoret, his parents can now afford to send their children to school. Caleb dreams of becoming a teacher.

3

SOS MEDICAL CENTER CENTRE ELDORET

to take the bus from the slums to the medical center. So they often postpone taking their sick children to see us,” says the Clinical Officer in Charge at the SOS Medical Center, doctor Celestine Mukite.

She estimates that three young children a month die of dehydration in the slums. According to UN statistics two out of three children does not receive proper treatment in case of dehydration, and half of the children who have pneumonia never see a doctor. But word is spreading fast of the services provided at the Eldoret Medical Center. ”Clients have come in handy to create awareness to other clients. Many a times clients refer each other to our facility,” explains Celestine Mukite.

AWARENESS RAISING ACTIVITIES Raising awareness about health issues and the services provided at the SOS Medical Center is of high priority. The long term funding provided by

Xellia allows for better planning of outreach campaigns. This is usually done by visiting public institutions such as colleges and universities, issuing posters and flyers and setting up outreach sites in rural communities as well as holding free medical camps at the site in Eldoret.

“Over the past years, the medical clinic has managed to sensitize the local community on its services through the outreaches conducted on a yearly basis. To this end, these services are now being sought after by the community members at the facility level. This has led to an increase in the number of clients at the facility,” says doctor Angela Ndaga.

This year the center has planned to conduct eight immunization outreaches, bi-monthly cervical cancer screening outreaches and other outreaches as informed by the Ministry of Health Calendar.

THE SOS CHILDREN’S VILLAGES ■■ SOS Children’s Villages is a global non-governmental social development organization who works to prevent family breakdown and protect and care for children who have lost parental care, or who risk losing it.

■■ All work is done in cooperation with communities, partners and states to ensure that the rights of all children, in every society, are respected and fulfilled. Focus is on childcare, education and healthcare.

■■ SOS Children’s Villages has more than 60 years of experience and is currently working in 134 countries and territories around the World. sosbornebyerne.dk

sos-childrensvillages.org

4

XELLIA REPORT 1/2015

youtube.com/user/SOSDanmark facebook.com/sosbornebyerne

Photo: Donna Midigo

Photo: Jens HonorĂŠ

5 Photo: Anne Kahura

Photo: Jens HonorĂŠ

SOS MEDICAL CENTER ELDORET

SOS MEDICAL CENTER REPORT CLIENTS AT THE SOS MEDICAL CENTER ELDORET Outpatient statistics

January

February

Marts

Maj

April

2014

2015

2014

2015

2014

2015

2014

2015

2014

2015

<18 years

179

193

149

252

160

274

137

133

106

195

>18 years

188

204

156

236

184

258

151

176

222

202

Child Welfare Clinic

101

113

85

127

84

93

99

119

101

112

Antenatal Clinic

21

29

23

20

21

28

24

23

41

Family Planning

57

33

60

31

50

34

44

30

49

36

Total

546

572

473

666

499

687

459

482

501

586

28

NUMBER OF LABORATORY TEST DONE* Month

2014

2015

January

267

275

February

186

308

March

234

415

April

246

185

May Total

317

287

1,250

1,470

*Jan-May

THE SOS MEDICAL CENTER ■■ Services: The Eldoret Medical Center services include medical examination, general out-patient consultation, family planning, child welfare, post-natal and antenatal services, cervical cancer screening and treatment, male circumsion.

■■ Facilities: On site is a well-equipped laboratory and pharmacy, 1 waiting room, 1 consultation room, a ward with two beds and storage facilities.

■■ Staff: These services are rendered by 6 clinical staffmembers (1 doctor, 1 midwife, 2 nurses, 1 pharmaceutical and 1 laboratory tecnologist) and 3 supporting/administrativ employees.

6

XELLIA REPORT 1/2015

FACTS ON KENYA AND ELDORET ■■ Kenya is 13 times the size of Denmark and has a population of 44 million people.

■■ The average income is 6,167 DKR per year – or 17 sDKR a day.

■■ 43% of the population exists below the UN poverty line of 1.25 USD a day.

■■ Life expectancy is 60 years for a man and 64 years for a woman.

■■ Half the population is under 18 years old.

■■ 2.5 million children are orphaned. 1.1 million children have lost their parents to aids.

■■ 16% of all children are underweight and 35% suffer from stunting.

CLIENTS AT THE SOS MEDICAL CENTER ELDORET Clients

TOTAL NUMBER OF CLIENTS JAN-MAY 2015

963

Laboratory

2,993

Medical Center

2,900

2015

Woman

Men

Pharmacy

DISEASE TREND JAN-MAY 2015

7

SOS MEDICAL CENTER ELDORET

“THE MEDICAL CENTER HAS SAVED MY LIFE” Access to cheaper prescription drugs and shorter transport time to medical care has improved Monica’s quality of life.

It’s 10 PM on a Saturday morning. Monica has just arrived at the SOS Children’s Villages Medical Center in Eldoret, Kenya. The 52 year old widow has high blood pressure and is a regular patient at the clinic. Every fortnight she has to be examined by a doctor.

The SOS Medical Center opened in 2011, and before this time Monica had to travel 45 minutes by motorbike to get to a hospital. Today she can get to the doctor’s within 20 minutes. At the same time Monica’s medical expenses have been lowered by up to 80 percent, which has made it possible for her to take her medicine regularly, before she sometimes had to skip it.

“I have saved a fortune on cheaper medicine. At the clinic I also get much better treatment, which has made me physically stronger. I have not just survived. I’ve got a completely different life,” says Monica,

8

XELLIA REPORT 1/2015

Photo: Jens Honoré

At the SOS Medical Center in Eldoret, doctor Celestine Mukite estimates that each year the center saves at least ten lives, simply because of easier access to medical care. The patients come from far away. The majority has about 40 km of transport to the medical center. But many patients have travel as far as 100 km to see a doctor. Most patients come by foot, others by motorbike or bus.