Rural Health Unit in QQ

Over the weekend, I traveled by boat to Alabat Island and I will be here for the remainder of my internship. I will be working in a Rural Health Unit, which is staffed by 1 doctor and around 12 nurses. Today was my first day at the RHU and I was once again intrigued by the fact that nurses and midwives here were able to treat and diagnose patients. The clinic yesterday saw over 50 patients in less than 3 hours. I am not sure whether to be blown away by how quickly they are able to treat patients or to be concerned that perhaps patients are not getting the best care and treatment that they can get. I was also able to observe in the TB clinic. In this area alone, there are over 50 cases of tuberculosis, which is an alarmingly high number considering the population is around 16,000. Often, patients do not come to the clinic for treatment even when they have had cough for many weeks. There is also a high number of multi drug resistant cases as patients do not carry out their treatment to completion. For these patients, there is actually an incentive. The government will provide a small allowance each day (around 100 pesos) that they come in to receive treatment. Though this is not much, it is something that helps encourage patients to come and take their medications. I was also able to learn about the 4 P’s which is a program in place by the government to provide financial assistance to the poorest of the poor. Every 3 months, these families will get a certain allotment from the government. However, this money is given only if the individuals have all children enrolled in school and if they attend a monthly lecture. These monthly lectures usually pertain to health, whether it be the diet, prenatal/pregnancy information, etc. However, one concern about this program is the money can be used for unnecessary purposes, such as alcohol or cigarettes. In just one day, I have been able to learn about some of the ways that the government is trying to encourage healthy behavior but it will take much longer than one day to see how effective these tactics have been in addressing some of the underlying issues.