May 17, 2016 | Summer 2016

This morning, the Ukweli test strip team visited Amara, the District Pharmacist. Today we visited two of five PHUs, Kamabai and Binkolo, classified as CHCs.

At Kamabai, we met the Chief Health Office (CHO) who we were able to interview. It became obvious that the CHC did not see many cases of diabetes. There was still no stigma sensed with diabetes. If they were to see a case, they would refer the individual to a regional hospital, where they would be tested and treated. At the clinic, they had one medication for the treatment of diabetes, but rarely use the drug.

Later, at Binkolo, we interviewed four clinic employees as a group and found a scenario similar to that of Kamabai. The employees we interviewed had never seen a case of diabetes in their clinic; they also don’t typically carry diabetes medication or a regular supply of screening devices. Having the opportunity to talk to multiple employees at once was a great chance to learn about the clinic from several perspectives at once and provided a comprehensive look at how the clinic functions.

To round out the day, we met with Khanjan, Bernadette, and two World Hope employees to schedule interviews with PHUs and CHWs for the next few days. Through these interviews, we’ll be creating a composite view of diabetes in Sierra Leone, in relation to the local health system. This diabetes map that we’ll be making is the product of our first study of our trip; using the map, we’ll structure our second, final study.

Our team member interviewing CHO at the Kamabai CHC.

The map and plan for the national measles marklate campaign at Binkolo CHC.