The Hospital

We visited almost a week ago, but in that time, I feel ill. There are some pictures posted. Unfortunately, I was unable to collect very many, due to the sensitive nature of the location - that and people kind of freak a little when they see women with cameras, or so I'm told.

I've struggled with how to present this experience, because the state of health care is so complex in this region, and in the country at large. There are so many NGOs (Non-Government Organizations), so many government agencies, so many charities, so many conflicting agendas... and the only thing that ties them together is the scarcity of funding.

There are two hospitals in Jalalabad - the National Health Hospital, and the University Hospital. They are 600 yards apart, and run by two different Government agencies - The Ministry of Public Health and the Ministry of Education. Because these are different (one could say competing) agencies, they are unallowed to share resources.

Our visit to the National Health Hospital was occasioned by the arrival of Pete and Kim of MedWeb, a telemedicine company.

MedWeb's telemedicine devices allow practitioners in rural areas to upload biometric data, images and medical files directly to major hospitals via servers. Some of the more clever devices for use in the field include a portable ultrasound that can be run via laptop and an EKG glove - instead of meticulously placing electrodes every time, a patient can be asked to wear the glove and lay it over their chest, which situates the 'trodes in their proper location without fuss.


While at the hospital, Pete gave a quick presentation for the department heads of the hospital. There were two female doctors, both OB/GYN (not a shock), and probably 12 male physicians, trained all over the world. Norway, Korea, Pakistan, Russia, UK.

Really, the thing to do is point you to Kim's Blog for MedWeb. The reality is that I am in many ways ignorant of the delicate political dances that must be performed by and for officials here in order to get anything done, and I don't want to misrepresent MedWeb's fine work. They also ran around and did a lot of stuff while I was down for the count. Kim's blog may be found here:

http://medwebcpo.blogspot.com/

If you're interested in more detailed insights into the health care situation on the ground, I would strongly suggest clicking the above link. Kim's reportage is sometimes inspiring, sometimes appalling, always interesting. I am glad to have had the opportunity to work with Pete and Kim.