DGHI News: $2.2 Million Grant Supports Implementation Science Research on Malaria Control

New and Noteworthy

Dispatch from the Field:
Duke Students Team Up on Research and Service Projects Targeting Youth, HIV Orphans in Kenya

Three Duke undergraduates learned the value of collaboration this summer after working on separate, but inter-related service-learning projects in rural western Kenya.

In partnership with the Kenyan non-governmental organization Mama na Dada, Jori Sheade, Alice Zhang and Maddy McEwen worked on projects focused on nutrition, water-borne diseases, and educating youth about the causes, risk behaviors and impacts associated with HIV/AIDS. Their work included creating and administering an epidemiological survey and working to spread positive health messages in the community, both of which can help inform future Mama na Dada health projects.

Jori Sheade working with children in Kunya Village.

As part of their research, the students collected and shared data from physical examinations and urine/stool samples of more than 100 children living in the community, by which they identified the presence of water-borne diseases, connected them to specific water sources, and identified risk factors. From this data, the students found 40% of the children suffered from waterborne diseases at screening, with many cases of helminths or parasitic worms.

Despite being located on the shores of Lake Victoria, Kunya Village suffers from a lack of clean water, resulting in a high rate of water-borne diseases, such as diarrhea and schistosomiasis. In a village population where most people live on less than a dollar a day, malnutrition is also a problem and can exacerbate disease.

"The students really worked well with everyone involved and collected some very interesting data," said Martina Oneko, a pediatrician working with Mama na Dada who used the data to prescribe the necessary medications. "I did not expect this, but especially for the upcoming water project in the area, they have given us excellent baseline data." Read more.

Medical Student Studies Pesticide Exposure Among Honduran Farm Workers

Third-year Duke medical student Stephanie Fetzko completed a year-long DGHI-funded global health research project in the Honduran town of Copan Ruinas where she studied pesticide exposure among agricultural workers.

Fetzko's research was part of the Third-Year Global Health Study Program, jointly administered by DGHI and the Duke University School of Medicine, and she was mentored by DGHI's Dennis Clements.

Watch the following video on Fetzko's project, her interest in global environmental health, and what she learned as a result of her research.

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Fetzko was the guest speaker at a recent Global Health Exchange.

Six Months Later, Haitian Women Need Health Care
The Huffington Post Features DGHI Partner Family Health Ministries (FHM)

"On stretches of sun-drenched fields crisscrossed by battered cement walls, a humble concrete building stands alone in Leogane,Haiti, the epicenter of the January 12 earthquake. The entire second floor crumbled a few months ago. But on the remaining foundation of the facility, every morning, women queue up neatly on wooden benches

FHM patients complete registration and wait their turn at a clinic.

lining a long aquamarine hallway. Inside, behind the hand-painted logo of Family Health Ministries (FHM), or "Misyon Sante Fanme Aysyen," are a few of the only people in the world who can tell them whether they're going to be okay.

The Family Health Ministries women's clinic in Leogane, a satellite facility in FHM's network of community partnerships in Haiti (other centers are operating in Blanchard in Port-au-Prince and Fondwa in the Southern Mountain region), is a tight operation that was here long before the quake and has survived just about as well as the surrounding community.

The clinic, which runs on local staff, has managed to restore its operations over the past few months. It may seem odd that intakes for preventive medical care have rebounded at a time when people are struggling for basic food and shelter. But the women who come here know the services are vital for the community's struggle to regain some sense of normalcy.

This is one of the few facilities in the whole country that tries to fully wrap itself around the cornerstone of a community's life cycle..." Read more from The Huffington Post.

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Learn more about FHM's Haiti relief efforts.

Congressional Delegation, led by US Rep. David Price, Visits Duke Global Health Site in Tanzania

On July 10, a delegation of eight members of Congress, led by US Rep David Price (D-North Carolina), visited Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center (KCMC) in Moshi, Tanzania. Price is chairman of the House Democracy Partnership, a program of the House Democracy Assistance Commission that is comprised of 20 Members of the House of Representatives who promote and support the development of democratic governments around the world.

Left to Right: Dr. John Crump; Dr. Mark Swai,director of Hospital Services, Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre; US Rep David Price (D-NC)
Dr. Crump, Dr. Dr. Swai, US Rep. David Price
While at KCMC, the delegation met with the Executive Director, administrators and regional officials, and heard a presentation by Dr. John Crump on the KCMC-Duke Collaboration. The delegation was heard a progress report on PEPFAR and other US Government-funded health projects.

According to Crump: "The visit provided an opportunity to share the work and accomplishments of the KCMC-Duke Collaboration, with a particular emphasis on government-supported activities abroad. KCMC-Duke Collaboration staff enjoyed meeting the group and the delegation appreciated being able to hear about our work. Members of the delegation commented that seeing the work first-hand in the field gives them helpful perspective when considering policies in Washington."