June/July, 2017

Global Child Health Unit Newsletter

Global Child Health Unit

Alberta Children's Hospital 2888 Shaganappi Trail NW

Calgary, Alberta T3B 6A8 Phone: 403-955-2462 Fax: 403-955-2922

Email: heather.numrich@ahs.ca Website: http://wcm.ucalgary.ca/paediatrics_global_child_health/

This issue –

LCDI-Meuang Kang School Update, By Dr.Janice Heard p. 2

Helping Babies Breathe, By Dr. Janice Heard, p. 5

Articles of Interest:• Pediatric Resident Academic Projects While on Global Health

Electives: Ten Years of Experience at the University ofMinnesota, By Michael B. Pitt, Tina M. Slusher, Cynthia R. Howard, Valerie B.Cole, and Sophia P. Gladding, p. 7

• Preparing for International Travel and Global Medical Care BySwaminatha V. Mahadevan, Matthew C. Strehlow, p. 15

• Impact o

f International Monetary Fund programs on child

health By Adel Daoud, Elias Nosrati, Bernhard Reinsberg, Alexander E.Kentikelenis, Thomas H. Stubbs and Lawrence P. King, p. 16

In the News & Upcoming events - p. 22

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LCDI-Meuang Kang School Update By Dr.Janice Heard November 2016, Champassak Province, Laos PDR

Meuang Kang School Project

There are two parts of the MKS school project:

1) Student scholarships, educational opportunities for students (which includes field trips andguest speakers from the larger centers), and teacher education

2) Infrastructure, school supplies, community engagement/development.

Student Scholarships

For the past three years, a number of individuals from Canada have been supporting students who were unable to attend school without financial assistance. There are 5 girls and two boys receiving monthly stipends, uniforms and school supplies.

Primary School Children

New uniforms for the little ones Older students with new uniforms

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Grade 9 Field Trip

This was the second annual field trip to Wat Phu, a trip that was felt to be very important to the students who learn about their country’s very ancient history. The students had the museum tour and walked to the temple on the mountain. A guide described the site and significance of the different buildings to the students, who studiously took notes and asked questions.

The students posed for group photos and climbed aboard their large tuk-tuks to go back to the school

Teacher Education

It was apparent that although they wanted to upgrade, the teachers were reluctant to use any weekend days for education because they all have to work second jobs to make ends meet and it would negatively impact that. We offered to give them a daily stipend for any time they took from work in order to upgrade. This idea was met with enthusiasm. The most important upgrading would be English lessons and computer skills. It would be most economical if they could find a teacher from Pakse to come to the school so they all can attend. They are organizing the workshops.

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Infrastructure, supplies

Last year the school requested funds for the materials to build two new classrooms. They had them finished by the early spring. They now need fans, more electricity and Terra Clear water to finish them off. They appear well built and are painted a similar colour to the other classrooms—they were unable to order the exact colour.

Drinking Water

We were very pleased to see that the Terra Clear purified drinking water units were in every classroom and being well used. The teachers had helpers who filled them every day. We also ordered two more Terra clear water filter units for the new classrooms.

Community development

An entrepreneurial villager has built a small “tuck shop” at the edge of the property and is doing a brisk trade at lunchtime. Some of the children who live very far away now get a hot lunch from her stall.

We discovered that the school down the road, which we had helped with new toilets, had found a French group to support some renovations and painting. Interestingly, they painted their school the exact colour of Meuang Kang School.

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Helping Babies Breathe, Helping Babies Survive –Workshops in Laos PDR

By Dr. Janice Heard

Since 2012, faculty from the University of Calgary, including residents and medical students, have been presenting and co-presenting with Laos doctors, workshops on neonatal resuscitation and care after birth. With our Laos colleagues, we have trained over 150 doctors, nurses, midwives and medical assistants to be providers. Additionally there are 18 Laos Family doctors who are certified instructors. They review and teach the program to their hospital staff when we aren’t there. We estimate over 400 people have been taught HBB/HBS in the past 5 years, most of them by the Laos family doctors!

These simulation based workshops require newborn mannequins,(Neo Natalies) bag-mask units, reusable suction bulbs, all of which we have provided. The teaching flipcharts, learner manuals, along with posters for delivery rooms, have been translated into Laos language, printed and distributed to all teachers and participants. Provincial hospitals and district hospitals all over the country now have the equipment to train and practice these life saving skills.

We are very grateful to the U of Calgary CSM, the Chinook Rotary Club and the Golden Rotary Club, for donating funds for us to provide the materials to the Laos medical staff. We have also been funded through the Rich Man Poor Man dinner and many individuals.

We hope to continue with this very valuable CME, helping the Laos people meet the Millennium Development Goals for Maternal and Child Health. This year we have added maternal modules- Bleeding after Birth and Pre- eclampsia-Eclampsia-the major causes of maternal mortality in Laos. The pilot was quite a success!

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Resources How To

KEYWORDS:

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Mahadevan SV , Strehlow MC .

AbstractThorough pretravel preparation and medical consultation can mitigate avoidable health and safety risks. A comprehensive pretravel medical consultation should include an individualized risk assessment, immunization review, and discussion of arthropod protective measures, malaria prophylaxis, traveler's diarrhea, and injury prevention. Travel with children and jet lag reduction require additional planning and prevention strategies; travel and evacuation insurance may prove essential when traveling to less resourced countries. Consideration should also be given to other high-risk travel scenarios, including the provision of health care overseas, adventure and extreme sports, water environments and diving, high altitude, and terrorism/unstable political situations.

Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Immunization; Malaria prophylaxis; Preparation; Travel; Travel medical kits; Vaccination

PMID: 28411937 DOI: 10.1016/j.emc.2017.01.006

[Indexed for MEDLINE]

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Format: Abstracthtthttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28411937

Emerg Med Clin North Am. 2017 May;35(2):465-484. doi: 10.1016/j.emc.2017.01.006.

Preparing for International Travel and Global Medical Care.

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Review Risks of travel, benefits of a specialist consult.[Cleve Clin J Med. 2010]

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In the News

GCHU Bulletin Board:

Global Child Health Unit bulletin board is located in the Department of Paediatrics hallway on the 4th floor of ACH. If you have any ideas, stories, or pictures related to your project please submit them to heather.numrich@ahs.ca Your input is appreciated!

Team GCHU:

Co-directors: Dr. Nalini Singhal, Dr. Jean-François Lemay Steering Committee: Dr. Amonpreet Sandhu, Dr. Andrew Wade, Dr. Stacey Yeh, Dr. Susanne Benseler, Dr. Jim Kellner Administrative Support-Heather Numrich

Upcoming Events:

GCHU Annual Conferences:

October 4, 2017 (2nd annual conference)

September 26, 2018 (3rd annual conference)

Next Upcoming Newsletter – August 2017

GCHU Newsletter

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