2023 -2024 Season
DeckerMed Africa Trust began its Outreach Camps season on June 26 with camps in Meru and Embu Counties. Working with the Ministry of Health in each instance, DeckerMed deployed clinical teams to assess, treat and refer patients with surgical, women’s and ophthalmic diseases.
“We treat patients gratis or refer them to our partners who do likewise. Only 5% of patients can afford the 500 shillings (US$4.00) monthly premium for National Health Insurance Fund,” said DeckerMed Camps Coordinator Angela Ndegwa.
Episodic and Neglected Diseases
DeckerMed focuses on episodic vs chronic disease; thus, we treat or refer otitis, PID and allergic ophthalmitis, but not arthritis, diabetes or hypertension. We also assess and refer Neglected Diseases as identified by the WHO: cataracts (53% of blindness cases in Kenya), clubfoot, obstetric fistula, hernia, unrepaired trauma, cleft palate, and more.
Venues
In Meru, we held our camps in the Social Hall of Majengo and in space provided by Kinoru Level 2 District Hospital. The Embu camp was hosted by Ishihara Level 4 Hospital who provided examining and treatment rooms. The support from the good people of these counties is truly invaluable to our operations.
Clinical Teams
Our core teams include a surgical resident, a nurse, a sonographer, a clinical officer and an optometrist. We are fortunate that the Meru Level 5 and Embu Level 5 Teaching and Referral Hospitals support our initiatives by lending us students and staff.
Screening and the Electronic Medical Record
Our clinical nurse assessed patients using state-of-the-art digital equipment for temperature, blood pressure and blood glucose levels. Vitals were entered into our EMR and populated with age, sex, ID, phone/pin, and digital photo. Each clinician and the sonographer is connected to the EMR by Mifi so every note, comment and image is captured and available to our Clinical Team and our referring partners,
Established Partners
Our referral partners are Clubfoot Kenya, Fred Hollows Foundation (cataract), Smile Train (cleft), Fistula Foundation, and CURE (pediatric orthopedics).
New Partners
We are fortunate to have Optica as our partner for screening vision and clinical disorders. Kenya’s largest optical dispenser dispatched an experienced team who saw 250 patients in four days.
The Surgical Society of Kenya recently agreed to partner with us going forward. They will designate diseases and surgeons to treat diseases gratis
Education
DeckerMed Inc is a medical publisher; education is in our DNA. Ten Embu University nursing students and seven Meru medical students attended the camps for preceptorship experience and screened patients for vitals and chief complaints.
We will be welcoming student optometrists and clinical officers come September.
Clinical Score Card
In four camps, we saw 540 patients who presented with an array of disorders, from hernia to clubfoot to cataract to breast lump to pelvic inflammatory disease to unrepaired tibial fracture. All told, we treated or referred 37 different ICD diseases.
In addition to the surgical diseases, 75 patients had primary or comorbid medical diseases. The DeckerMed dispensary carries 11 medications that cover 80% of the conditions encountered.
DeckerMed’s sonographer uses a Butterfly portable ultrasound device to assess and screen patients. We wanded 56 patients, confirming the clinical diagnosis in 78% of cases and offering alternative interpretations for others.
We also did breast screening on women over age 40 and detected lumps.
The Optica Clinic screened 250 revealing cataracts, ophthalmitis and other disorders. We were able to treat 70 on-site, refer others for specialist management, and provide corrective eyewear at DeckerMed’s expense.
This year DeckerMed has scheduled 90 camps in village Ws and wards. We will see more than 10,000 patients with neglected diseases.
Special Thanks
- Dr. Koome Muthuri : County Director of Health
- Dr. Joseph Wahome : Health Services Chief Officer
- Kawira Enid : Sonographer
