Senegal's Health Crisis
POSTED: May 31, 2007
By John Patrick
Earlier this year, Operation Blessing sent a 40-foot container of medicine to the Senegalese Ministry of Health for distribution to remote villages.
"For the first time, people are able to get essential antibiotics to be able to treat cases such as pneumonia in children," said David Darg, OBI's assistant director for international programs.
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SENEGAL, Africa - In remote regions of Senegal, quality medical care can be hard to come by.
"Still today, when someone gets sick in these remote communities and villages, the best they have to look forward to is a visit with the local witch doctor," said David Darg, OBI's assistant director for international programs.
"It's a fact that medicine and essential health care just isn't accessible to a lot of people – especially if you are poor," he added.
Earlier this year, Operation Blessing sent a 40-foot container packed with antibiotics and other medicine to the Senegalese Ministry of Health for distribution to these villages.
In May, Ministry Health officials invited OBI to travel by boat to several remote fishing communities in the Sine Saloum River delta and see firsthand the impact the medicine has made.
"For the first time, people are able to get essential antibiotics to be able to treat cases such as pneumonia in children," Darg said. "One of the local doctors told me that the antibiotics are saving many, many lives."
Operation Blessing is currently planning other relief measures for these communities, including a large-scale Malaria initiative that will supply villagers with additional medicine, mosquito nets and education on disease prevention.
How You Can Help
Be a part of OBI's ongoing medical relief efforts by making an online contribution to help those suffering from extreme poverty and sickness. |
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