August 17th, 2011 by angela
Since 2004 Doctors Worldwide have been working in the Democratic Republic of Congo in partnership with RADEM (Recherche et action pour un developement multisectoriel), an organisation established by Jibrill Kasongo, later joined by Dr. Paul Mawaw.
Doctors Worldwide are committed to working in the region on a long term basis and currently operate a number of projects including Urban Clinics, Rural Maternity Clinics, Circumcision, Poverty Reduction Programme, Emergency Projects and Villages of Hope.
August 17th, 2011 by angela
Doctors WorldWide has carefully designed a project to help reduce one of the most preventable and urgent needs in Pakistan: neonatal mortality. We have identified the main causes of neonatal mortality in Pakistan; preterm birth and sepsis.
Our project mobilises the necessary logistic and human resources to reduce each of these outcomes within three years in one of the most deprived areas of Sindh, ShahdadKot. This taluka has been severely affected by the recent flooding in Pakistan and is predicted to expect higher levels of neonatal mortality compared to national data of 53 per 1000 live births.
August 17th, 2011 by angela
The recent floods in Pakistan highlighted the vital role Doctors Worldwide volunteers carry out in the field. Below is an account from one of our volunteers, Dr. Seher Ahmad, GP, who worked in Nowshera, North West Pakistan in September 2010.
“This was my first ever experience of working in an emergency. A series of fortunate events enabled me to go to Pakistan and work with DWW on the humanitarian crisis. I was on maternity leave and my husband had booked some time off work for Ramadan before we even knew anything about the floods. My mum was willing to take time off to take care of our baby, he was 3 months old at the time, so that my husband and I could travel to Pakistan and volunteer with DWW. All the factors fell into place and so we were able to go.
I knew it would be hard work when I got there but what I found challenging was the massive need for doctors, and seeing the state of the patients who were coming to the clinic. Some of the patients had not seen doctors for years; they had urgent medical needs and others had more long-term medical needs. I was dealing with chronic long-term illnesses but because our clinic was so well stocked with medicines we were able to help people. I was shocked at seeing so many children at our clinic who were sick. Young children with diarrhoea, more than 250,000 cases of suspected malaria, including some of the fatal falciparum strain, have been reported, according to the World Health Organisation. Children in particular are very vulnerable to malaria.
The UN reports there are 881,000 cases of diarrhoea, 840,000 cases of skin diseases and almost 1m cases of respiratory disorders.
The floods have devastated Pakistan’s flimsy public health system. According to a news report in The Guardian newspaper more than 500 clinics have been damaged, while the government estimates that 30,000 “lady health workers” – a programme that is the backbone of the community health system – have been made homeless.
The newspaper states that pregnant woman are a particular concern. An estimated 50,000 flood-affected woman will give birth in the coming month, 7,500 of whom will require surgery for pregnancy-related complications.
There was a lack of hygiene in the area post floods, due to people not having access to clean water. In many cases people only had the clothes they we wearing, they had lost all their possessions.
I was seeing between 80-100 patients a day with a focus on seeing women and children as they felt more comfortable seeing female doctors for cultural and religious reasons. Women would of course see male doctors if no female doctors were present but like many women they felt they could talk in more detail about their personal health issues with me. Lots of women coming to the clinic were pregnant. I was able to assure them about the health of their unborn babies. I had a Doppler with me, the women were amazed and stunned to be able to hear their unborn babies heart beats, it was something they had never experienced before. This was a very special moment for me and raised my spirits to see the expecting mothers faces etched with relief to know that their babies are safe and healthy.
I was in Pakistan for seven days, but what I saw and experienced has had a profound impact on me and I wouldn’t hesitate to go back and volunteer again. I came across babies who were sick and in urgent need of IVF fluids.
We had an ambulance that we could access which meant that we could transfer patients to surrounding hospitals for further treatment. The reality however is that the patients had no way of making their way back to their village 40 km away, they had no money, they had no way of communicating with their families. So for this reason many people did not want to go to hospitals far away for treatment.
I raised £20,00 for Pakistan through family and friends that money is going to Doctors Worldwide.
Since I’ve been back I’ve had mixed feelings, I’ve been feeling overwhelmed and my mind drifts back over to Pakistan a lot. Long term I’m interested in developing relief work experience alongside my GP training; this experience has really made me want to learn more about humanitarian work.
We need more women doctors in the field and I would definitely consider going out again.”
September 12th, 2011 by angela
October 27th, 2011 by sami
We are able to continue accepting web only payments through to 9am, Saturday, 5 November.
Doctors Worldwide are taking benefit of the forthcoming Qurbani festival which is part of the celebration of the Islamic Hajj, to try and ensure that as many individuals as possible will have access to meat protein in their diet. Many regions in the Horn of Africa participate in the annual Qurbani festival, and we are offering our friends and supporters to take part in this activity also.
With this year’s famine taking its toll, providing meat to many families is an important supplement to meager daily diets.
DWW are planning to offer Qurbanis in Kenya. The cost of each animal/share is £30.
Purchasing a Qurbani
Please use the comments/payment reference field when completing your payment to advise us of the names for each Qurbani. We will issue you with a “tracking number” via email after Qurbani has taken place. As part of our strategic plan to increase transparency to donors, we hope to use the tracking number to feedback to you about the circumstances and location of your particular Qurbani.
September 27th, 2011 by admin
Please check back soon
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September 27th, 2011 by admin
Want to make a difference? Interested in sharing your health expertise? We welcome interest from potential volunteers. We offer short-term placements from 2 to 3 weeks and medium term placements lasting up 12 months. These are open to anyone who has a professional health background – you do not have to be a doctor to apply!
Our placements provide an opportunity to make concentrated and high impact contributions in the areas we work in. Some of our roles are “needs assessment and appraisal” led, other roles are purely clinical based in either primary care or hospital based settings. From time to time, we also have opportunities to work and support in health management and strategic projects.
You do not have to pay to volunteer with us but we do expect you to cover your own flight costs, In return, we provide accommodation, local transport and cover insurance costs.
However, the story does not end there, for some of our projects, volunteers may remain involved long after they return to the UK.
If you are not sure, please give us a call and we would be happy to talk.
September 23rd, 2011 by angela
Last year’s floods in Pakistan devastated the lives of many milllions. Doctors Worldwide were on the ground in Sind and the Northern areas affected by flood waters. We helped thousands with emergency medical and food aid. However, instead of deciding to come back, we stayed to work on long term health development projects. We are currently based in Upper Sind and as a result of the recent monsoons, lower Sind areas are currently under water.
DWW sent a senior medical team on Saturday 19th September from the UK. Along with our existing Sind medical staff we are moving into the Thatta and Badin districts to help provide urgent medical relief. Badin is the worst affected area. Our focus is phased, starting with the distribution of antimalarials, medicines and food. Where we are able, our second phase is to set up medical treatment facilities and fund doctors to support the displaced population until the recovery and rehabilitation can begin.
Please support us financially to be able to purchase medicines, antimalarials and food.
When donating please use payment reference PAK002.
September 23rd, 2011 by angela
Humanitarian work often requires one to perform at their best, just as one would expect in any other job or career. It is therefore important that humanitarian workers and volunteers have an understanding of the circumstances and challenges they may face, and that preparation and training are key. Such training goes beyond the remit of general medical experience. Every year DWW holds a weekend training course for volunteers interested in learning about the issues and challenges of working in a medical or health project in the developing world.
Our next course will be held in Spring 2012.
September 19th, 2011 by angela
Long term focus
Doctors Worldwide focus on not just the short term, but also the long term. It is always our philosophy to ensure that every penny is spent wisely and effectively. None of our work would be possible without the generous financial assistance of our donors and we now ask for funds to help deliver our work during month of Ramadan and beyond
One pound appeal
£1 per day to feed one person. Prolonged conflict, drought and famine have caused the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people in East Africa in the worst food crisis of the century. These ‘environmental refugees’ have fled in search of food and water and are now residing in massive refugee camps. However, it’s not just about refugees; significant local populations in the arid and semi-arid districts of Northern Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia and Somalia are also severely affected.
Doctors Worldwide has been operating in Kenya for the last 3 years and in July we sent a public health and rapid assessment team to the Dadaab region of the country.
Numerous camps in Dadaab have existed for many years and we identified a well-established health care infrastructure. The key issue was supporting newly arrived and starving refugees whilst they await registration and support from the likes of UNHCR.
However, in our view, the bigger challenge is the tens of thousands of locals who have been left to fend for themselves as the aid effort and media are focused on refugees and specifically the Dadaab region.
Focus on Food & Health
We have been quietly and actively developing a number of interventions over the last few weeks, some short term, others long term focussed. Many are already being implemented and others will start shortly.
Dadaab Refugees – We have set up our own food facility to make high-energy cooked food meals. Many NGOs and Charities are simply providing food packs but many of these newly arrived refugees have no means to cook.
We have provided 1,100 meals since 2nd August outside the IFOR main camp and have scaled up to feed around 1,500 per day for the month of Ramadan. We are not sub-contracting this kind of work and have set it up from scratch to ensure value for money and accountability.
It costs just £1 per day to feed one person.
Local Kenyan Communities – we have identified in a number of districts in the arid and semi-arid areas of the North, affected by the drought. We will be shortly distributing 45kg food packs to 1,400 families across 7 villages. There are many more villages that we would like to help.
£50 will provide a family of six with basic foodstuffs and high-energy milk for a month.
School children – We identified that running a Ramadan Iftar programme would significantly help local school children and their families to avoid low level malnutrition. By the end of the Ramadan period we will have provided 12,000 locally cooked meals.
We will develop this into a longer-term supplementary feeding program.
Health & Tackling Malnutrition
We have a long-term mindset; hence we have sought to identify areas affected by the drought and food poverty in which we can develop sustainable and meaningful health improvement programs. We always aim to work in partnership with local community based health organisations and facilities. Initially our aim is to help tackle malnutrition amongst children and expectant mothers affected by the drought.
A donation as small as £5 will help us fund the delivery of fortified and high calorie therapeutic foods and pay for local health care teams to provide clinical support.
WHEN DONATING PLEASE ENSURE YOUR DONATION CARRIES “KEN001” IN YOUR PAYMENT REFERENCE.
PLEASE CONTACT US FOR IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO MAKE LARGE OR RESTRICTED PROJECT DONATIONS.
