Yesterday I went to Jubilee Health Centre. I thought I was going to visit the HIV clinic but it doesn't run on a Friday, so it was a general clinic. Just like a GP clinic. I sat with the GP who after seeing 2 patients let me just get on with it! Saw lots of Diabetes & Hypertension! For my cardiac colleagues, thought you'd like to know I looked at the South African DOH guidelines for Heart failure. They were 2 sides of A5 & basically included 2 diuretics, an ace inhibitor & recommended Spironolactone or Digoxin if things got dodgy!!!!! Simple!!!
The clinic is free & they dispense medication. They charge a flat fee of 5 rand (about 50p) no matter how many different tablets are needed. If a family is really poor they don't charge. I saw an 8 year old boy who came in with an ear infection. He is one of 6 children. The GP was telling me that his family are very poor. They attend the clinic regularly but are unable to afford to pay for the tablets. Apparently the last time they visited they brought in a pair of shoes that one of the children had grown out of as an offer of payment. Obviously the clinic didn't take them. The effects of the poverty are heart breaking & it's great that there are Christian funded clinics like Jubilee providing such an amazing service.
The sun is coming out so I'm going to head out now.
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