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Health

Providing access to essential health services is one of the top priorities of the Zalala Foundation. When we first arrived, neither Supinho, nor Idugo had a health centre or any health facilities. In the case of Supinho, there is a health centre within a few kilometers. But in the case of Idugo, there were no facilities at all on the island and access to the nearest health centre entailed a long and hazardous journey across choppy waters. In response to the desperate pleas of local communities, addressing this situation and bringing health services to the people of Idugo has been one of the top priorities of the Zalala Foundation. As described in this section, over the last decade, the Foundation has been able to transform the health situation on the island making it the pride and envy of surrounding communities.

Mobile Health Clinic

While we are working hard to get funding to build a complete health centre for the estimated 10,000 people living on Idugo, the Zalala Foundation proposed to the District Health Department to provide some services in the form a Mobile Health Clinic. After several months of discussion a cost-sharing agreement was reached between the District Health Department of Quelimane and the Zalala Foundation. Under this agreement, a team of 11 health care workers with a range of specialisms will travel twice monthly to Idugo equipped with medical equipment and medical supplies providing consultations and treatment for the local population. The focus will be on maternal and infant care, HIV services and other general medical treatment. During the first 3-month trial period, reports will be produced about the health situation on the island and records will be produced for regular monitoring of treatments and adherence to ARV treatment.

The first mobile clinic was greeted with huge enthusiasm. Hundreds of people flocked from all parts of Idugo to the place where the clinic was set up. Mothers with their babies, the elderly, who were transported on bicycles by relatives and others with clear signs of illness. Many were tested for malaria and those testing positive received treatment.  Some were too sick to stand and lay flat on the ground waiting their turn to be seen. Their names were recorded and they will be the first to be seen on the next visit.

Over a 3-month period in 2019, close to 250 consultations were provided, 92 cases of malaria were diagnosed and treated and close to 300 prescriptions were given for other illness diagnosed. A family planning clinic was set up to hand out contraceptive pills and provide injectable implants for women, some with as many as 10 children. Talks on preventive health were attended by over 500 residents of Idugo and 250 oral health kits were handed out to school children and others.  The experience and evidence collected by the Brigades point to the desperate need for such services to be available to the islanders on a permanent basis. Thus the Foundation’s efforts to realise our ambition to provide a full-scale health centre on the island will be redoubled during 2020-21.

POST COVID-19 RESUMPTION OF BRIGADES

In September 2020, Idugo received the first mobile brigade following a 6-month interruption of services due to COVID-19. During the course of the day, the brigade members attended to over 600 men, women and children, provided vitamin supplements to 88 children and infants, vaccinated over 100 children for polio, measles, rubella and hepatitits, provide family planning for over 30 women and gave talks on health and hygiene to over 400 people  It is hoped that the Brigades will continue to visit the island on a monthly basis until a health centre has built on the island.