Health Update - Cancer Screenings

MWCT's Health Program recently hired a new Clinical Officer for Langata village named Emmanuel Wanyama, allowing us to greatly expand our services and keep the clinic open on weekends.  Since his arrival clinic visits have increased more than 30%, allowing us to help many more patients.  Thanks to this new flexibility, we recently offered cancer screenings in Langata for the first time to good success.

The district reproductive health officer discusses cancer screenings.

The District Reproductive Health Officer began the day by facilitating a community conservation about women's cancers, after which Sam (MWCT nurse) and Wanyama worked with the Ministry nurse to administer breast and cervical cancer screenings.  During this initial visit ten women were screened with no referrals, and the community was very thankful for this new service.

Women wait for cancer screenings in Kuku village.

Following this we held a second screening two weeks later in Kuku village, this time using our experience to plan more comprehensively for the event.  We brought our ambulance fully outfitted for the day, with supplies including a hospital bed and disinfecting bucket, and set up operations in the local Child Care Fund center.

Sam and the female government explain basic facts about types of cancer.

Because some women are uncomfortable with a male nurse performing the screenings, we arranged for a female government nurse from Loitokitok to accompany us and help for the day.  We again had a community discussion regarding cancers, then screened ten women for breast and cervical cancer, one of whom was referred for further testing.

MWCT ambulance loaded with supplies for our Kuku village screening.

Health Program Update - Cancer Screening Successes

Today we write with an update on the Health Program's recent Cervical Cancer Screening Campaign.   As you may recall, our nurses were recently trained to administer the test, meaning that they can do so at any time.  However, to celebrate this milestone and reach as many women as possible, on September 21st we publicized and held a Screening Day in which we tried to get as many attendees from the surrounding communities as possible.  We also brought in two additional nurses from out of town to handle the expected load, and to help explain the testing process, the benefits of frequent testing, and the greatly increased survival rate with early detection.

Women attending the cancer screening session listen to the directions of the nurses.

The end result was a great success, as we had 34 women from Iltilal, Langata, and other surrounding bomas and villages make the trip to the Iltilal clinic for testing.  And because the clinic is now equipped to test at any time, we have tested a steady stream of women in the successive days.  Additionally, the screening launch allowed us to expand access to our long-term family planning program, with 6 new enrollments.  Following the success of this screening day, we hope to implement similar programs in the other three clinics on Kuku Group Ranch.  Efforts like this show how receptive the Maasai are to these efforts to improve their health and living conditions if we present them the right way.  Time to get back to work!

The Community Health Workers and district health personnel after a successful day at the clinic.

Health Program Update - Cancer Screenings and More!

There have been lots of exciting developments in MWCT's Health Program over the past couple months - these are just a few!  In the month of August alone we delivered 19 different talks to almost 200 audience members on topics including cancer, nutrition, safe sex practices, water and sanitation, women's issues, and birth assistance.

Another very exciting event will be happening Friday, September 21st in the village of Iltilal, when we will be launching a Cervical Cancer Screening Campaign.  Residents can come and be screened at any time, but in an effort to get it into the public consciousness we have been heavily advertising this date and are trying to get as many women tested as possible.  Early detection is the easiest way to catch cervical cancer and prevent it from worsening; with regular screenings this can truly save lives and improve the health of women all over the Kuku Group Ranch.

 

And finally, we installed a solar panel at the Langata dispensary (shown above) that allows for many more patients to be screened after dark and boosts the morale of the nursing staff.  The panel provides light and charges during the day, then uses this stored energy to give hours of power after the sun sets.  With this kind of continued sustainable development we will be able to continue to expand our program and our mission.  Thanks for all the support!