Charles is one of the clinical officers I work with on my outreach trips to the rural areas surrounding Mwanza. Every week, we sit side by side and see patients together in the HIV clinic.
Because there are not enough doctors in Tanzania, the government has tried to fill the great need for health care workers by quickly training Clinical Officers (COs) like Charles. COs are trained straight out of high school for 3 years, and their clinical skill level is significantly lower than those of trained doctors.
By developed country standards, 3 years of training is incredibly brief. Especially since at the end of those 3 years, COs are responsible for treating everyone from newborns to the elderly. If you are a sick Tanzanian, it’s almost certain that your care will be provided by a CO and not an actual doctor.
This is sadly a common pattern we see in Tanzania: people being asked to assume huge responsibilities without the tools or training to do their job. The result is that too often I’ve seen poor and even dangerous medical practices in the district health centers.
Back in May 2009, the New York Times ran a series on the poor obstetric care in Tanzanian’s district hospitals and health centers http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/24/health/24birth.html?fta=y
Such are the challenges the patients and health care providers, like Charles, face here every day.
No comments:
Post a Comment