Well, we are set to fly in about 7 hours...
These past few weeks have been a whirlwind. I completed my Nurse Practitioner studies and took the board exam 2 weeks ago; completed a 10 year career as an RN one week ago, obtained a new job as an NP 2 days ago, and finished packing for Cameroon last night...
So now that I can breathe easier and the brain cells have slowed down a bit, I can share a bit of what has been happening with my thoughts of Africa...
It's very interesting, the comments and thoughts that family and friends have when they hear about an upcoming mission trip. For instance, my mother asked, with all the deaths from malaria, why don't they already have a vaccine? Well, my initial thought was that a malaria vaccine was just not an option as a profitable endeavor in the pharmaceutical arena. Who would fund such a global effort? Well, this question spurned a bit of a research curiosity and I did find that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has put forth a large donation toward an effort to create a vaccine against malaria. And this is why:
- Malaria is one of the planet's deadliest diseases and one of the leading causes of sickness and death in the developing world. According to the World Health Organization there are 300 to 500 million clinical cases of malaria each year resulting in 1.5 to 2.7 million death
- Children aged one to four are the most vulnerable to infection and death. Malaria is responsible for as many as half the deaths of African children under the age of five. The disease kills more than one million children - 2,800 per day - each year in Africa alone. In regions of intense transmission, 40% of toddlers may die of acute malaria.
- About 40% of the world's population - about two billion people - are at risk in about 90 countries and territories. 80 to 90% of malaria deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa where 90% of the infected people live.
- Sub-Saharan Africa is the region with the highest malaria infection rate. Here alone, the disease kills at least one million people each year. According to some estimates, 275 million out of a total of 530 million people have malaria parasites in their blood, although they may not develop symptoms.
- Of the four human malaria strains, Plasmodium falciparum is the most common and deadly form. It is responsible for about 95% of malaria deaths worldwide and has a mortality rate of 1-3%.
- In the early 1960s, only 10% the world's population was at risk of contracting malaria. This rose to 40% as mosquitoes developed resistance to pesticides and malaria parasites developed resistance to treatment drugs. Malaria is now spreading to areas previously free of the disease.
- Malaria kills 8,000 Brazilians yearly - more than AIDS and cholera combined.
- There were 483 reported cases of malaria in Canada in 1993, according to Health Canada and approximately 431 in 1994. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States received reports of 910 cases of malaria in 1992 and seven of those cases were acquired there. In 1970, reported malaria cases in the U.S. were 4,247 with more than 4,000 of the total being U.S. military personnel.
- According to material from Third World Network Features, in Africa alone, direct and indirect costs of malaria amounted to US $800 million in 1987 and are expected to reach US $1.8 billion annually by 1995.
http://www.malariavaccine.org/world-malaria-day-2011.php
RTS,S is the malaria vaccine candidate furthest along in the development process. In clinical trials conducted over the past decade, it was the first vaccine candidate to demonstrate that it can provide substantial (53%), although not complete, protection for young children and infants in malaria-endemic areas against infection and clinical disease caused by Plasmodium falciparum, the most deadly species of the malaria parasite. In 2011, RTS,S is in the midst of a large-scale Phase 3 trial that involves 11 study centers in seven African countries. The RTS,S malaria vaccine candidate was created in 1987 by scientists working at GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals laboratories, the vaccine division of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). Evaluation of RTS,S in adult volunteers began in the United States in 1992 and in Africa in 1998. The Phase 3 efficacy trial began in May 2009, with the first child vaccinated in Bagamoyo, Tanzania, one of 11 trial sites in seven sub-Saharan African countries participating in the study (the others are Burkina Faso, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, and Mozambique).
While Cameroonians struggle to survive through preventable diseases that take lives on a daily basis, there are still some questions about how they deal with the smaller inconveniences we have... such as menopause and hot flashes, home remedies... the dental hygienist wondered about their dentition... there is such a curiosity for the part of the world that is so far away and foreign.
As for my own thoughts... I really don't have a whole lot yet. My mind is open and curious, calm and hopeful. I hope that they will receive me as a Nurse Practitioner as I have put many additional years of study in the hopes to help them. I am excited to see my son's reactions and perceptions to all that he sees. He is hoping to teach some children how to yo-yo there and of course, play soccer! And I am hoping he'll break down and cut his hair while we're there!!
I would like to give a special thanks to all of our friends, family, and the parishioners of our parish St. Anthony of Padua in Windber, Pennsylvania. They have been praying for us, for the sisters, orphans, and patients of Njinikom, and have provided wonderful donations to assist the efforts. I am sure that the Franciscan Friars of St Anthony's agree that we will be in good hands with the Franciscan Sisters of Cameroon!
No comments:
Post a Comment