Hopes, Meetings, and Outlines

I am extremely excited for our trip to both South Africa and Mozambique. From an educational standpoint, I am about to encounter a world completely unknown to me. So many African cultures and customs I’m only familiar with from books and films. I want to experience everything fully. I want to memorize every detail…the sights, the sounds, the smells of Africa. I want to come away with something I did not have before. What that is, I’m not sure. But traveling always seems to ground me and I gain perspective on the important things in my life.

So much of what I’ve concentrated on as an undergraduate is static. We are given articles to read, text to memorize…but the application of our lessons is still not understood. I am hoping to gain some experience in the realm of international healthcare during the course of this trip. I feel that it is one thing to throw around theories and policies, but until the situation to be addressed is encountered firsthand, everything remains impersonal and distant.

This relates to my individual project for the ADPM course. I want to learn more about how malnutrition, which is such a rampant problem in sub-Saharan Africa, plays a role in disease prevention and treatment. I hope to focus on malaria and HIV specifically. My individual project, ideally, will be more a review paper commenting on the current status of sub-Saharan Africa and Mozambique relating to malnutrition, malaria, and HIV. From published statistics and personal observation, I hope to first paint a picture of these epidemics. Next, I will compile applicable research that concludes upon possible associations between malnutrition and disease. Finally, I will research programs that have been implemented in both Mozambique and across sub-Saharan Africa with regards to the above public health concerns.

My group has been categorized under all things related to healthcare. Our project addresses three main questions regarding HIV/AIDS in Mozambique: 1) What are the methods of prevention?, 2) What treatment is available?, and 3) What obstacles are faced in the fight against HIV/AIDS? We recently met with Dr. Cohn, an infectious disease specialist who works at the Detroit Medical Center. Dr. Cohn spent a few years in Mozambique researching HIV and he was able to give us more insight into the structure of the country’s healthcare system. He also emphasized the lack of human resources. There are roughly 700 doctors in a country of 20 million. Many times people are unable to reach the hospital or clinic because of the geographic distance and thus are unable to receive a prescription and subsequent treatment. Corruption is also a factor when dealing with the healthcare system. Many times, financial aid is not distributed proportionally or received at all.

Until next time…bon voyage!