Public Health Screening Project

From Ni Wiki

[edit] Introduction

Anemia is a major problem in developing communities worldwide. Primarily impacting vulnerable populations including the poor, women (especially during pregnancy), and children, anemia diminishes physical ability and mental development creating a vicious cycle. Proper hemoglobin screening and health education activities are key public health measures for tackling anemia. Recognizing this, in December of 2005 Nourish International provided $500 to a team of fellow University of North Carolina students to support anemia prevention and control activities in Guyana. Working with the Ministry of Health, they completed the following:

1) Provision of 12,500 World Health Organization developed hemoglobin testing kits (HbCS) [1] to the Department of Regional Health Services for use in antenatal clinics and to the Department of Disease Control for HIV voluntary testing and counseling centers. These tests were provided as a pilot project to provide the Guyanese health system with an introduction to their capabilities and allow them to decide if HbCS was ideal for certain situations (in lieu of clinical pallor as no other means of testing were available for routine use). The costs of the tests ($0.02 each) were such that the Ministry of Health could afford to purchase more if they found them to be useful and satisfactory and thus sustain these efforts.

2) Training workshops at the request of the director of Regional Health Services in the HbCS for 30 medic students, 32 senior public health nursing staff, and 18 VCT counselors

3) Development of anemia prevention brochure and children's coloring book working with the Guyana Red Cross and Department of Health Education. The brochure is under review by consultants of the Inter-American Development Bank's Basic Nutrition Project for inclusion into their program.