New clinic in Equitorial Guinea

village in Equitorial Guinea

So what does it take to start a new clinic in a new country?  Well... it takes

$617.40 from one company and
$75 from another

What will that give me?!  All the basic medications and supplies to get things going.  Prior to coming to Honduras, I went to hospitals that donated medical supplies to me, I put on vitamin/over-the-counter medication drives at various churches, and my own home church put on a "baby-shower" for me and brought me in all sorts of infant supplies.  I'm in a different situation right now as I'm not in the States, and everything that I collected for 2 years prior to leaving for Honduras, and all the medication/supplies I collected over the last 8 years while in Honduras, I am leaving behind.  So I need YOUR help!  Let's see what I can raise in the next month to go toward the purchase of the medications and supplies.

It's SUPER easy to give - just click HERE and your tax-free donation  will go toward the purchase of supplies and medication.  Send me a quick e-mail at maddysmother@yahoo.com to let me know the donation is toward this drive, and together we can make this happen!

Baby with malaria

The health needs in Africa are OVERWHELMING!!!!  Here are some statistics to help you see what I'm up against (I've listed my sources as well if you want more information - and...I can't help it - being in a Masters Program makes me site all my sources - so they are here for you as well):

The Infant mortality rate

U.S. – 5.87 / 1,000 live births

Honduras – 18.18 / 1,000 live births

Equitorial Guinea 69.17 / 1,000 live births

Life Expectancy at birth

U.S. - 79.68

Honduras – 71.0

Equitorial Guinea – 63.85

Healthy Life Expectancy

U.S. - 69.3

Honduras – 63.7

Equitorial Guinea – 47.4

Health Expenditures

U.S. – 17.1% of GDP

EG – 3.5%

Major infections in EG:

Bacterial/protozoal diarrhea

Hepatitis A

Typhoid fever

Malaria and dengue fever

Top Causes of Death in The U.S.

       1.  Coronary heart disease

       2.  Alzheimers/dementia

       3. Lung Cancer

       4.  Lung Disease

       5.   Stroke

       6.  Diabetes

       7.   Hypertension

       8.    Colon-rectal cancer

       9.   Kidney disease

1    10.   Influenza/pneumonia

U.S. death rate to AIDS 2.2/100,000 and of the reporting countries, ranks 107^th (of 172) of deaths related to AIDS

Top causes of Death in Equitorial Guinea

      1.        HIV/AIDS

      2.       Influenza/pneumonia

      3.       Diarrhoeal disease (i.e. cholera)

      4.       Malaria

      5.       Coronary heart disease

      6.       Stroke

      7.       Low birth rate

      8.       Other injuries

      9.       Birth trauma

     10.   Malnutrition

Equitorial Guinea death rate to aids is 202.13/100,000 and of the reporting countries, ranks the 13^th highest in the world of deaths related to AIDS

Sleeping sickness

yaws, a syphilis like infection, measles, tetanus (tetanus infections in newborns accounts for about half of tetanus-related deaths in developing countries) and low birth weights, while all over Equatorial Guinea, during the rainy season, typhoid, spread through unclean and contaminated water, and hepatic amebiasis also become more prevalent (24).

It does not help that the majority Fang population is also traditionally a polygamous group and is also strongly against condoms and other forms of contraceptives.

Clean drinking water is often very important in order to maintain a healthy life. In urban areas throughout Equatorial Guinea unsanitary communal taps lead to the spread of diseases including malaria, worms, and gastrointestinal diseases

Clean drinking water has also been identified as one of the main factors leading to poor health and a rise in the number of cases of diseases like tetanus, typhoid and hepatic amebiasis. These are all mostly spread through unsanitary living conditions and dirty or contaminated water.

The U.N. has even recognized the lack of doctors in Africa as one of the worst problems affecting health issues throughout the continent and gone as far too publicly call the problem a "crisis of health man-power" (28). The World Health Organization has even stated that medical facilities in Africa in general were, "barely able to function for lack of qualified, motivated doctors, nurses and other health workers"

Sources:

www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook

www.worldlifeexpectancy.com

24) Sundiata, Ibrahim K. Equatorial Guinea: Colonialism, State Terror, and the Search
for Stability. Westview Press: Boulder, 1990.

Other links:

CIA World Fact book (http://www.cia.gov/factbook/equatorial_guinea.html)
U.S. Department of State (http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2001/af/8367.htm)
Human Development Index (http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2002/en/indicator/cty_f_GNQ.html)
All Africa (http://www.allafrica.com)
Amnesty International (http://web.amnesty.org)
Basic Information (http://www.exxun.com/EquatorialGuinea)
World Bank (http://www.worldbank.org/gq.html)
International Monetary Fund (http://www.imf.org)
U.N. Development Program (http://www.undp.org)
Country Profile (http://us-africa.tripod.com/eqguinea.html)