It could have been a great deal worse. This more or less resumes the hectic period of the past two months, in plain rainy season. The Jinack Community Clinic had to perform at its full capacity; beds were in use most of the time, which is something we hadn’t experienced before. It is, therefore, a good thing to have this project on the island.
Our decision to equip every ward with showers proved itself succesfull. They are frequently used during these tropic, humid days. And they also offer some distraction to the patients. Especially the women seem to enjoy the moment when they can enter the showers together to refresh themselves.
The clinical picture of most patients, 235 adults and 141 children, during this summer is still the same as in earlier years. The symptoms are mostly respiratory diseases and gastrointestinal disorders. The cause of these are most likely the climate variations from humid and cool weather to extreme heat, and the water quality from the open wells.
Moreover, the number of malaria infections is still rising in the rainy season. Malaria remains widely spread on Jinack.
The medical staff had to work long hours. But they know, just as the inhabitants of the island, that they would have been a lot worse off without the clinic – having to cope as they did with hundreds of patients, among which were a number of severe cases.
Although basic medication was mostly available, the demand for the facilities was very high this period. We will therefore have to make new agreements with the government about this before the start of the next season. We will soon visit the authorities to discuss the situation.
This project is (and was) carried out with the cooperation of the National Commission for International Cooperation and Sustainable Development; The NCDO, Wilde Ganzen, ASN Foundation and many other foundations, businesses, organizations and individuals.