HEALTHCARE

Malawi has one of the most alarming doctors to patient ratios in the world. There is one doctor for every 87,000 people! This actually made it into the Guinness World Records. E3 organizes and manages mobile clinics targeting people in rural communities who have limited or zero access to basic medicine and medical care.

The E3 catchment area is roughly 64,500 people in a 200 square kilometer area. For many villages like Gusu, the nearest they will ever come to getting any form of medical attention is when the E3 Worldwide mobile clinic comes by. People have been known to walk 2 days to receive care at the E3 mobile clinic.

Mobile clinics are typically held every 6-8 weeks and are open for two days. Roughly 1300 people on average are seen by up to four clinical officers and, when visiting, doctors from the states.

RURAL MEDICAL NEEDS

Rural communities medical needs fall into three areas; chronic, emergency, and maintenance.

Chronic medical needs include; malaria, diarrhea, malnutrition, hiv/aids, vitamin deficiency, stunted growth, ringworm, and measles/chickenpox outbreaks. For chronic needs we partner our mobile clinics with our development initiatives. The clinical aspect involves testing for malaria and medicine for HIV, ringworm and chicken pox. The development portion targets malnutrition, vitamin deficiency, and stunted growth through good farming practices which emphasizes growing of nutritious foods and clean water.

Emergency needs are varied in their extremes. Cases include cancer, extreme malnutrition, burns, and serious wounds. When cases such as these are presented at the mobile clinics, E3 arranges evacuation to the African Bible College clinic or to the main government hospital with follow-up care as needed.

Medical maintenance follow-up care mainly includes daily or weekly contact in regards to medicine. Drug therapy is the most common follow-up care which includes epilepsy, diabetes, and hiv/aids regimens.

Drug scarcity is a huge problem in Malawi so even when a person is diagnosed with a chronic disease, access to medicine or the ability to pay for the medicine is problematic. E3, on a case by case basis and, when funds allow, follow-up and make sure cases such as epilepsy, diabetes, and hiv/aids receive the medicine they need.

MOBILE CLINICS

Mobile clinics are the most donor dependent project for E3. Each mobile clinic costs on average $1000usd. The cost includes; hiring clinical officers and nurses, drugs, and transportation. E3 partners with students of the African Bible College who donate their time to help manage the clinic and the crowds or act as interpreters for visiting mission teams.

The difference over the last four years in the community has been stark. There has been a huge reduction in cases of ringworm, extreme malaria cases are falling due to early detection and access to malaria medication, no case of cholera and measles reported, and referral of extreme physical trauma are being evacuated immediately instead of the person waiting weeks to months for treatment.

CARE AND LOVE

The demonstration of care and love by the physical ‘binding of wounds’ and healing is one of the incredible gifts that E3 Worldwide has been blessed to give to people who are so broken in more ways than one. No wonder is was so popular during Christ’s earthly ministry! In our context, it is also a fundamental way to provide escape routes from a life of poverty as research shows that for most households, poverty and destitution are only one illness away.

We have heard and witnessed countless stories of children losing their future due to the loss of a breadwinner to a treatable illness, people losing limbs and organs to an infection that could have easily been controlled by an off the counter remedy, and so forth and so on.

With the help of financial partners, E3 has and is making a difference in the community, one life at a time. To partner financially with E3 so we can continue with this vital need please click here. To inquire about volunteering or bringing a team to work at an E3 mobile clinic outreach event click here.