Public Health Expert, Dr. Radford Davis, visits Sierra Leone

Public health expert and friend of Khadarlis Dr. Radford Davis recently visited the only clinic in the entire Jimmi Bagbo chiefdom, where most of Khadarlis’ work in Sierra Leone is based,  in order to assess the clinic’s ability to respond to public health threats. His photographs, which can be viewed in full on his site, reveal a clinic that is severely strapped for resources.

Although the clinic has a dedicated staff of 17 local health care workers and volunteers, the clinic has no electricity and no running water. The medical lab is a small corner of the room with a scale, picnic tables, and a malaria antigen test kit. They do not have enough supplies to fill the lab’s single shelf. The mosquito screens on the doors and windows to the clinic have large holes in them. The latrines are simply holes in the ground.

Medical supplies are scarce. The Ministry of Health makes a delivery only once every three months, and even then, the clinic receives less than the bare minimum they need to protect the health of the villagers. They can take their patients’ blood pressure, run test their patients for malaria and urinary tract infections, but they do not have the antibiotic medications needed to treat these conditions. Furthermore, they do not have diagnostic tests or supplies that can be used to treat one of the region’s most critical health problems, Lassa Fever. 

Lassa Fever is a viral infection that humans contract through contact with rodents, such as the rats that live near the clinic’s latrines. Although it is treatable, many patients die because their caregivers cannot identify the virus quickly enough or simply do not have the antiviral medication.

In 2011, Khadarlis volunteers visited the clinic and brought them gloves, towels, bandages, blankets, first aid kits, gynecological examination tools, and thermometers. These donations have been immensely useful for the clinic staff. Even though the clinic staff lacks the supplies they need to combat infectious diseases in the region, they have several experienced midwives who help to deliver babies and are instrumental in the effort to educate local villagers about preventative care measures.

However, the Jimmi Bagbo clinic could accomplish much more if the staff had access to more medical supplies. After observing and photographing this clinic firsthand, Dr. Radford Davis has vowed to help the clinic get the support it needs and will be working in conjunction with Khadarlis to make these improvements happen.