Pushing the limits: Young South Africans reach with medical humanitarian aid to those in crisis
Fezile Kanju, 28 – Advocacy Manager
Fezile Kanju, from Acornhoek in Mpumalanga, is on a nine-month long assignment with Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in Pakistan. Her work as advocacy manager focuses on improving maternal and child healthcare and access to treatment for hepatitis C in two provinces.
Large numbers of people in Pakistan remain cut off from basic, quality medical care. “There are many reasons for this, including that the public health services are poorly resourced and only a handful of people can afford to pay for private sector healthcare,” says Kanju.
The maternal and newborn mortality rates in Pakistan are high. Women regularly die from preventable complications during pregnancy and neonatal care is inaccessible for many. With a maternal mortality rate of 170 per 100 000 live births and an under-five child mortality rate of around 86 deaths per 1 000 live births, Pakistan is among the countries with the highest rates of maternal and infant mortality.
One of the reasons for this is that over 75% of deliveries take place at home, while skilled personnel attend to only about 20% of them. “Lack of access to healthcare in remote rural areas are some reasons why women cannot access quality care. Many women are forced to go to makeshift facilities no health practitioners because they are closer to their homes. This puts their lives and their babies’ lives at risk,” says Kanju. “Inadequate infrastructure and high insecurity contribute to why many medical professionals do not commit to working in these areas.”
MSF continues to support provincial and district health authorities in responding to some of the country’s most urgent needs.
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Kanju will develop an advocacy strategy to improve women’s access to safe, quality maternal and child healthcare.
In addition to challenges around maternal and childcare, Pakistan also has the second highest hepatitis C infection rate in the world. Kanju works in the Sindh province, where MSF is piloting a decentralised model of care to present alternative ways of allowing patients without funds to access tertiary care for hepatitis C treatment.
This is Kanju’s first MSF field assignment, but she did gain experience in the Dr Neil Aggett Unit of MSF Southern Africa, where she worked as a training, networking and programme officer. She joined the office in 2011 and engaged with universities on numerous humanitarian issues, including access to medical care in the migration context.
Laurent Seale, 29 – Logistician
Laurent Seale, a logistics supply coordinator from Cape Town, recently helped refugees and migrants in Serbia who had made the perilous journey across the Mediterranean Sea seeking refuge in Europe. MSF teams have been in Serbia since late 2014, responding to the medical and psychological needs of people forced to flee violence in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq on their transit route to other European countries.
During his seven months in Belgrade, Seale managed a team responsible for accessing medicine and other items such as clothes, energy bars, soap and blankets for migrants and asylum seekers.
“The medical team we supported provided them with mental health support and medical services. Many people we helped suffered from respiratory tract infections and joint pain from walking long distances.
“We worked to make peoples’ onward journey to other countries less arduous. As Serbia was a transit point, people fleeing violence couldn’t settle there but had to move on to other European countries where they could seek asylum and reach their relatives.
“It was great making a difference in people’s lives, despite the freezing temperatures! Without MSF’s dedication, people would have been stranded, without support,” said Seale.
“On the road close to the border between Serbia and Macedonia, I saw wheelchair tracks in the mud — something I’ll never forget. That heart-breaking image reminded me that old, desperate people were crossing the border in wheelchairs in the dark and extreme cold.
“Our teams also placed wooden freight pallets over a swamp to help people to cross it. I remember children’s shoes stuck in the pallets, which was really sad. It highlighted the long, hard journey people were travelling in search of a better life for themselves and their children.”
For his next MSF assignment Seale will work in South Sudan’s capital Juba, where he’ll join a team focussed on the needs of people living in a displacement camp.