During a February visit to Balagram, BHP Directors John Richards and Alex Berland met with village residents to discuss their health care concerns. We learned that people with chronic illness were traveling long distances for medical care because local health care clinics were understaffed and sometimes unfriendly to poor patients. We asked OFP to explore ways to strengthen linkages with capable local GPs concerned about disadvantaged communities. We also requested OFP to arrange a specialist referral for a young woman with cerebral palsy symptoms whose family brought her to meet us. BHP funds some of the travel and accommodation costs to attend these specialist consultations as well as treatment costs for assessments and simple surgeries such as cataract repair.
Our weekly chronic illness screening program continues in the clinic offices in the OIST building, using student volunteers. For three months in spring a local paramedic was also available, so he and an OIST student visited residents in their homes to screen for hyper-tension and diabetes. We used BHP health program funds to pay for the paramedic salary (about $350 CAD for three months) and paid for a computer to maintain patient files in the clinic. We also asked OFP to improve access to good-quality health promotion videos and paid for a large-screen TV for the primary school.
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