One of the CamKids funded medical slum clinics is located in Stoeung Meancheay Commune, Phnom Penh city. Approximately 280 families with 1,900 people live there. Most residents are rubbish collectors, construction workers and garment factory workers facing a range of health problems and diseases.
The team continues to visit the HAW community twice a month to provide medical treatment, nursing care, maternal care plus health and hygiene education. In order to expand our work more effectively, the team has continued to work cooperatively with community leaders and members to build trust and positive relationships with the community. As a result, more and more patients are continuing to seek medical care from our team and their overall health has been improving.
A total of 1,711 patients have been treated during the past year and they included 94 maternal, 364 medical and 1253 nursing patients. The number of nursing patients treated at HAW slum communities increased due to the arrangement for villagers to receive their 6 monthly de-worming from the nursing team.
In a recent visit to the House above the Water project, a patient was interviewed. His name is Soun Sokphors aged 25 years. He lives in a house above the water community. At first he got cough, running nose and dyspnea for 5 days before he came to see us. He gets this problem 3 or 4 times a year. He said that when he was 10 years old, he lived at Kompong Chnang province. He went to hospital and was diagnosed with asthma. The doctor there gave him some medication to help.
A week later, he felt better from his problem and decided to stop going to hospital because he hoped his problem had settled. Also his mother could not send him to hospital for follow up because they needed money to support their daily expense. These problems recurred 3 or 4 times every year but he could do nothing because he had no money. In January 2015, he moved to live in HAW community. After moving in, he started hearing about our medical slum clinic.
At first he was afraid to come to see our team because he felt that his condition of many years and may be too late to treat. Over time he could see the team visiting each villager’s house to advise them how to have good overall health and educate them for a better quality of life. The team was then able to met Sokphors and advised him to meet our team in order to receive the proper medical treatment. On 8th December, 2015 he decided come to meet our team. After making his medical history, the team determined that he had asthma with lung infection. Our team provided him with antibiotic as well as Salbutamol inhaler.
Our team then advised him how to do breathing exercises and how to look after himself, to use the inhalers properly and what to look out for if the infection comes back. As a result, he feels much more confident and well. Glad that he can get care even when he has no money and glad that he can now be well to work and help his family.
