Polish doctors are going to Kenya. They will treat children from orphanages and a center for HIV-infected people

Doctor Elżbieta Petriczko is a pediatrician and endocrinologist. She works at the University Clinical Hospital in Szczecin. She took unpaid leave to help the sick in Kenya. She has been on more than one medical mission. She has been to Tanzania and Cameroon, among others.

– I met other doctors from countries who go on missions, I joined them and then, like an avalanche, this is an infectious disease, I went on a mission to Kazakhstan – says Dr. hab. med. Elżbieta Petriczko, supervisor of “Medics for Kenya” at the University Clinical Hospital No. 1 in Szczecin.

Now he is infecting others. A total of five doctors and four medical students will take part in the medical mission to Kenya.

– I can safely say that this is my first mission, but certainly not the last. I am proud to be a co-creator of this event, “Medics for Kenya”, says Aleksandra Kwiecień, a medical student at the Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin.

– People in Africa do not have access to basic medical care, but they also do not know the basics of hygiene. I think that motivated me to use my knowledge and help – says Marta Springer, a medical student at the Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin.

Medics go to Africa to treat primarily children from orphanages and HIV-infected centers.

– The mortality rate among children under five is still very high. These are rates that are absolutely unheard of in Europe, which is particularly moving to me as a pediatrician – says Elżbieta Petriczko.

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In eight suitcases, each weighing 20 kilograms, they took everything necessary for diagnosis and treatment.

– We will be accompanied by a radiologist who has a portable ultrasound machine, and now we even have X-ray equipment. A surgeon is coming who will perform minor surgical procedures, dressing bedsores, wounds, burns – informs Elżbieta Petriczko.

– We have collected a lot of medicines. These are painkillers, anti-inflammatories, but also antibiotics in ointments, in injection forms, heart medicines. We have a huge range, practically an entire pharmacy – indicates Marta Springer.

– Of course, repellents, to protect as much as possible against insects, and consequently against malaria, for example, such equipment as mosquito nets – lists Dorian Scheuring.

Medics will treat patients not only in the local hospital, but primarily in the field.

– The conditions will be completely different because we are going to a place where this medical care is very limited or does not exist at all. So that is why we have to provide it from the very beginning, often from scratch – says Dorian Scheuring.

– I am prepared to work from morning till night, I come full of energy and I am open to helping doctors – says Aleksandra Kwiecień.

– I think that at my current stage of education I have enough knowledge to change a dressing and help in dressing fresh wounds – says Marta Springer.

In Africa there is no universal health insurance, and treatment is expensive. Help from Polish doctors – free and priceless.

– These are such moving images when we arrive in the morning and there are already 300 people waiting there, sitting for many hours, because these people sometimes walked long distances to wait for us and for this help to be provided to them – says Elżbieta Petriczko.

– I think that it is a bit difficult to prepare for it in advance, when you are going on such a trip for the first time, that we will learn everything, so to speak, fresh. However, we talk a lot with doctors who have participated in such missions before – says Marta Springer.

The medical mission will last eight days, but preparations for it took almost half a year. – There were collections of medicines, there were points where these medicines could be delivered. We also have some from our hospital, from the infectious diseases hospital and from donations – informs Paulina Śwenta.

A local company has sewn clothes for the medics from a special material that works well in the African heat.

– We are also extremely grateful because, together with our enthusiasm, it spread to the local community, and the whole of Poland also heard about us – says Aleksandra Kwiecień.

SEE ALSO: They want to help where there is a lack of doctors and medical equipment. Two students will fly on a mission to Africa

The mission of the doctors is supported by the District Medical Chamber in Szczecin. – This is a good school of life. Very extensive clinical experience. We do not see many things in Poland. Some diseases are simply not encountered in Poland, we do not encounter such an amount of infectious diseases. This is a kind of school of life – says Michał Bulsa, president of the District Medical Chamber in Szczecin.

The medics set off at night and will receive the first patients on Monday evening.

– We can't fix the whole world, but we can do small things to fix it, and to equalize opportunities a bit – summarizes Elżbieta Petriczko.