Category: Public Health

A short story about elderly care (and HIV) in Ghana

During my current work in a hospital in Akwatia Ghana, I had the chance to work together with the social welfare unit of the facility. One day I was called by the social worker in order to accompany them to ‘deliver’ an elderly lady back to her village. Here is what happened.

Abendoned in a hospital bed for two weeks

The woman was transferred to the hospital in a bad condition due to her HIV positive status. After her treatment she was discharged but no one came to pick her up. Thus, for over two weeks she was laying in the hospital with no care, visitors or proper food. Merely the social welfare unit gave her basic food to survive. When I asked the staff where the relatives are, no one knew about them and it was assumed that they are not coming as they cannot afford to pay the medical bills. Thus, we put the women in a car and together with two social workers we drove off to find the village. Read More

Non-communicable diseases in developing countries

This article will talk about the problem of non-communicable disease (NCD’s) in developing countries in general and in South Africa. As my Master thesis was dealing mainly with the topic of NCDs and nutrition I was able to gain some valuable insights into this area and would like to share some facts and thoughts.

NCDs – What are they again?

First, let me start with some facts. Non-communicable diseases, or chronic diseases, are best described as not be able to spread from one person to another. Cancer, diabetes, pulmonary diseases, and cardio vascular conditions count under this category. They also share the same risk factors mostly related to an unhealthy lifestyle. Read More

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