In October 2006, I joined the Virginia Hospital Center Medical Brigade on its
seventh annual trip to Comayagua, Honduras. The expedition was first launched in 1999 after Hurricane Mitch caused widespread devastation in Honduras. Since then, each fall the Medical Brigade travels to Honduras in order to
provide health care to thousands of patients who do not have access to medical care or
supplies.
The 2006 team was composed of seventy-seven volunteer Brigade members and served 6,885 patients in Comayagua and four other poverty-stricken rural villages. I was one of three Georgetown University residents on the trip and I focused on evaluating pediatric patients, many of whom had never seen a physician prior to our visit. Each pediatrician saw more than fifty patients a day. We were each provided with a bilingual interpreter allowing for discussions of all medical concerns.
We diagnosed ear infections, skin
infections, pneumonia, tuberculosis, drained abscesses and provided as much preventive education as we could. When not seeing patients, we were busy helping set up temporary clinics, counting vitamin and medication pills for distribution, and working on educational programs.
Other than general pediatrics, medical services provided included adult primary care, ophthalmology, physical therapy,
audiology, and surgery. Refurbished
eyeglasses were fitted to 2,400 adults and children. The audiologist fit and tuned hearing-aids to over thirty patients. Many sets of donated crutches, walkers, and wheelchairs were provided to the physically impaired.
In addition, the surgery team performed more than one hundred operations
including: general surgery, ENT, plastic
surgery, and numerous corrective
strabismus surgeries. The local hospital in Comayagua had no ventilators, no working incubators, and only a limited supply of antibiotics.
The medical and surgical teams relied
primarily on donated equipment,
medications and supplies brought from the United States and the efforts of the
Lions Club International in Comayagua.
The Remote Village Project, a model of
sustained and year-round healthcare
service, was initiated by the medical brigade with full support from the Honduran
government. Through this project, well-respected rural
community leaders were trained to function as certified Community Health Workers.
These workers provide year-round counseling on
community health improvements and
preventive care to villages in the Comayagua region, focusing on issues such as accessing and utilizing available
treatment for tuberculosis, and the
importance of clean water, proper nutrition, hygiene, and proper body mechanics for lifting.
Additionally, with the support and supervision of the Medical Brigade and the Comayagua Lions, the health workers are learning to diagnose and treat a limited number of medical conditions common to central Honduras. This includes: infant diarrhea, ear infections, simple skin
disorders, and intestinal parasites.
The Brigade provided all necessary
equipment and medications to
appropriately empower this effort. They’ve committed to return multiple times throughout the year to each village, to gauge whether it’s supplying what is truly needed. The Brigade has been recognized by the American Red Cross as being the largest coordinated effort from a single
hospital currently serving in Honduras.
Noele Nelson, M.D., PhD is a fourth-year resident at Georgetown University Hospital in Pediatrics. She completed her M.D. at the MSIH and PhD at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in 2004.
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