On Monday we found ourselves set up for screening at the school in Cailaco with 4 echocardiography machines and 5 cardiologists and over 700 students to scan in 2.5 days.
We faced a big challenge figuring out who was going to make the long and difficult drive back to Dili to source another machine from HNGV hospital.
Best case scenario we would have the machine to use on Tuesday morning, losing a full day of screening with the machine.
A few quick calls to the doctors at HNGV, Maluk Timor and MAF and our machine was in the air (picked up from airstrip by Eddie de Pina from the Bakhita center who are looking after the team here in Cailaco) and set up ready to scan just after lunch on Monday.
The transport of this machine helped us check the hearts of more Timorese children, and find and treat those with RHD, who would otherwise have presented to a health centre with far more severe disease in the future.
Today we drive to Palaca to screen up to 700 children on Thursday and Friday.
Thank you MAF, it was great to see you in action!
We are working on a Rheumatic Heart Disease screening project headed by Dr Joshua Francis and managed/funded by Menzies School of Health Research in Darwin.
You can read more about it from the links below:
ABC news Story….read more
Menzies School of Research – Pedrino project – read more