SCOMER NEWSLETTER Volume 1 Issue 2

SCOMER Newsletter

Special points of interest:  Malaria Eradication Campaign

Volume 1, Issue 2

9th May, 2012

Malaria Eradication Campaign

Burden of Malaria in Sub Saharan Africa:

1

NEW PROGRAM SUCCESSFULLY FIGHTS MALARIA

2

Malaria Eradication Campaign was an idea borne in haste as I prepared for a project Presentation for IFMSA MM2012 in Ghana. A colleague of mine (Lisa Ochola) helped with the drafting of the frame work of this campaign.

Little did we know that we had started something bigger than even ourselves.

We came up with the idea of opening up a Facebook group account because most students have ac-

AUTISM A WORLD-WIDE PHENOMENON

3

Burden of Malaria in Sub Saharan Africa:

Our Facebook pages

6

Malaria campaign on Radio

7

SCOMER ACTIVITIES

8

Inside Story

6

 Malaria Eradication in Papua New Guinea  Autism (ASD) from a parent’s point of view  SCOMER facebook page excerpts  SCOMER activities

Inside this issue:

Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. There are four major species of Plasmodium that cause disease in humans; P. falciparum, P. ovale, P. malariae

cess to Facebook and March 2012 in we aimed at making it Uganda. This saw our a global campaign. numbers increase The Facemore than book asseven fold pect of this and now campaign we beat has really our origigrown benal target yond our of 500 original members.

A student (Charles Opio) expectaStudents spraying to kill mosquitoes tions. This on World malaria Day from all is mainly over Afdue to the efforts of rica and beyond have Ephraim Kisangala shared key ideas on who co-presented this how malaria can be campaign at FAMSA eradicated effectively. conference held in (Cont. Page 2) knowland P. vivax. Of the mentioned P. falciparum causes the most serious disease in humans.

On what Africa's major health problem is, Laila Lokosang said, “I can inform you without blinking an eye that it is malaria.”

As many as 3 billion people in endemic areas are at risk of malaria and approximately 500 million clinical cases occur annually. Between 1 and 3 million die annually, largely African infants and young children.

(Cont. Page 2)

SCOMER Newsletter

NEW HOLISTIC INFECTION PROGRAM SUCCESSFULLY FIGHTS No Malaria – in the past it was just a dream. Now it is possible to fight Malaria successfully. What is most important is that it should be for all people and not divided between the rich and the poor. The main goal of the Malaria Support Retreat / Holistic Healthcare Initiative, based in Papua New Guinea, is to help malaria infected people who get no regular medical care. The project is led by Tom Coghill, a nutrition and juice fasting expert who is conducting research to support new programs for the fight against Malaria, Tuberculosis, and other infections.

Malaria and degenerative diseases have increased as cultures have

This Campaign is driven by the will of the students to eradicate one of the most traditional diseases (malaria) that has been hypothesised to exert negative selection pressure

increased consumption of nutritionally degraded western foods such as processed oils, fast food, processed sugar, white flour, and other acid forming foods.

A reduction of nutritious substances makes the body more susceptible to infection. Therefore, Formula 256 contains a wide spectrum of nutrients that provide a short-term nutritional boost to the body's healing capacity.

Chronic Malaria infection can be the result of a low NK cell count, therefore the basic diet is raw food because it increases the NK cells (Natural Killer Cells) and promotes the health of the whole

Malaria Eradication Background This has provided a fountain of knowledge with a vast diversity of ideas.

As we prepare for World Malaria Day on the 25th of April, we have asked the members of this group to do something about malaria in their communities, take photos and then share them on the facebook group. This is mainly to increase awareness in

the communities in which we live.

This Campaign is driven by the will of the students to eradicate one of the most traditional diseases (malaria) that has been hypothesised to exert negative selection pressure. This pressure con-

immune system immensely.

Herbal Malaria Blend 256 can stop Malaria related symptoms such as fever, joint ache, headache, and weakness in less than 10 minutes. Also it consistently shows total symptom reduction with malaria positive and malaria negative patients in just a short time.

It contains a wide range of herbs and naturally pure essential oils such as Ginger, Tea Tree Oil, Cajuput Oil, Lemongrass Oil, Clove Oil, and much more. (Cont. Page 3)

tributes to the population dynamics.

Together we shall eradicate malaria!

By Pritch Kabata (MBChB-III student at Kampala International University – Western Campus) pritchkabata@gmail.com

Burden of Malaria (Cont.)

Inspite of being a preventable and treatable disease, malaria has had its toll on the continent as sub-Saharan Africa losses an estimated $12 billion annually to malaria related issues.

The groups listed below are not only vulnerable to, but also most affected by malaria

Page 2

1. Pregnant women: About ½ of the pregnant women in Malaria endemic countries live in Africa. Despite the available prevention and therapeutic strategies, about 10,000 of them and nearly 200,000 of their

infants die due to malaria infection in pregnancy.

Malaria is dangerous during pregnancy as it increases the risk of maternal anaemia, still birth, spontaneous abortion, low birth weight and neonatal death.

2. Under-five’s: Despite a decrease in the malaria global incidence by 17% in 2000, about 1 in every 5 deaths in Africa is due to malaria. Every 40 seconds, a child dies of malaria making it the fourth lead-

ing cause of death worldwide for children under five. Even those that survive do not escape unharmed since repeated fevers and anaemia affect their mental and physical development thus retarding both education and growth. (Cont. Page 3)

Malaria Burden (Cont.)

3. HIV infected persons: Malaria and HIV infection intersect at different levels as they are concentrated in the tropics in addition to being exacerbated and reinforced by poverty. HIV infection increases the risk of clinical malaria as it decreases protection offered by anti- malarial drugs. Malaria also contributes to a temporary increase in viral load among HIV infected persons

Volume 1, Issue 2

thereby increasing the risk of mother to child transmission 4. Elderly: Despite being nicknamed the “senior citizens” they are seriously affected by the disease. A study on tourists showed that they (>65 year old persons) are 10 times more likely to die of malaria than those aged between 18 and 35.

Complete Malaria control strategy Posted by a student on our facebook page

By SCOMER editorial

“The province of

New Holistic Program (Cont.)

Madang in Papua

In August of last year, my friend Tom Coghill has given out 20,000 doses and it never fails with Malaria, Typhoid Fever, and especially Tuberculosis. The people there would walk for miles as they heard of the Formula. Six thousand came within just a few days.

The province of Madang in Papua New Guinea is almost free from Malaria.

If you are looking for a natural Malaria Fighter, without side effects, but 100% effective then this is it. You

cannot overdose, and there is no interaction with medication.

There have been no negative interactions except for shivering in 2 people with chronic Malaria.

The Malaria Support Retreat has an expert in Pharmacy / Herbal Nutrition interactions, a Dipl.qualified Nutritional Consultant.

He has put his suggestions in learning material for the students of the Wellness Centre at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada.

We have the firm belief that Malaria can be eradicated globally through this Formula 256, but not without the support of many people.

Malaria related aid agencies and groups, who are really interested to fight against malaria with Formula 256 and our diet program are very welcome. http://healingrecipes.ws/category/ malaria-support-retreat-holistic-healthcare-initiative

By Dipl.-qualified NC., Mirko Albrecht

New Guinea is almost free from Malaria”

‘…teacher

(albrechtnaturalhealing.nc@googlemail.com

noticed Joel

AUTISM A WORLD-WIDE PHENOMENON What is Autism?

Autism is a disorder of the brain that causes a lifelong developmental disability. It is a form of Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) which is the result of an abnormality in the structure and function of the brain. Symptoms shared by all PDDs are: Impaired social interaction; Impaired communication; and Char- Parents displaying one of the flyers during Autism awareness day acteristic behaviour pattern. The in Kampala (Uganda) symptoms of autism can occur by blindness, mental retardation, deafthemselves or in combination ness and epilepsy. Living with with other conditions such as

autism means having a brain that is ‘wired’ differently from that of other people. Autism is a difficult phenomenon to describe. The best way to understand it is by observing what the children or persons living with autism do or experience.

I will give my son Joel as an example. When he was 7 years old, the teacher noticed him jacking at the door handle repeatedly and not moving away for a long time.

(Cont. page 4)

jacking at the door handle repeatedly and not moving away…’

Page 3

Autism (Cont.)

He also tended to be shocked at certain sharp or loud sounds but not bothered by other regular sounds. He preferred only ‘Irish’ Potatoes and would only eat it when it was boiled and looked white/cream. If you fried it or if it was another colour he refused to eat. He sat at a particular spot in the house and tended not to change sitting location over time.

He was always sitting by himself even when with other children.

He was very scared of places where there were many people.

He always closed his ears where there were many people or where sounds were loud like when a lawn mower was trimming the compound. His fine motor skills were not the best. He clumsily held things with his palm rather than the fingers only. He had no speech. Over the years (He is now 18 years old), he has talked (a clear audible sentence) less than 5 times. After the sentence, he lapses into his silent world as if he did not say anything. His routine behaviours have tended to change slightly as he grows older. He has periodically experienced constipation.

Joel is also epileptic and gets epileptic attacks quite often al-

though he is under medication.

Any sickness like colds, flu,

Behaviour of Children Living With Autism Behaviour problems for these children are also communication problems as well.

This can be seen in the way they perceive the behavior of other people. They often do not understand what we are saying and asking them to do.

Their brain processes information differently and at a different pace from that of other children.

Lack of speech compounds their problem if they do not understand.

Children like Joel living with autism grapple with behaviour, communication, sensory and cognitive challenges which are in many ways inter-related. To understand a person living with autism, you need to understand all the four aspects of their world. This article focuses on behaviour.

They do not know how to watch their friends and learn from them. This is because they see things differently from other children. Also they may see many more things in addition to what the other children are doing. For example if they see children skipping with a rope, they may also be concentrating on the pattern created by the rope, the sounds that the rope is making as it hits the ground, (Cont. page 5)

PHOTO BREAK

Volume 1, Issue 2

He preferred only ‘Irish’ Potatoes and would only eat it when it was boiled and looked white/ cream”

‘…For example if they see children skipping with a rope, they may also be concentrating on the pattern created by the rope, the sounds that the rope is making as it hits the ground,…’

Medical Students sharing ideas to come to a conclusion

Page 4

AUTISM (Cont.) the rising dust as the skipping goes on, the colour of the dresses the children are wearing and how it beautifies the whole environment. While other children expect them to join the skipping, they imagine they are being expected to take in all those things they are reflecting on and soon they get a “brain jam’. Once the information becomes too much, they start hitting their heads with their hands or banging it on the wall or with an object to try and unpack it. When this fails to yield results they get frustrated and may exhibit inappropriate behavior as a consequence.

We who can understand must take responsibility to reach out to them by taking time to see, listen and understand what they are communicating and endeavour to help them. Preventive measures we can use to help children living with autism reduce behavioural challenges include creating a conducive living environment, creating a regular structure and ABC (explained later).

of the world about Autism and the information and will in turn learn the need to reach out to autistic to organize other information. A rou- persons and create for them an environment for wholesome tine structure should be creatively living.” UPAA exists for care of programmed around them so that

they follow it daily. Give them a picture schedule to follow is a good idea. Start with real pictures and diagrams could follow. Teach every step and ensure they can easily follow by themselves after words. Such a structure solves many problems.

They will easily follow instructions given within a structure because they like routine and can easily follow whatever is organized in form of a routine. If they do not know what to expect, their behavior could be horrible. Over 50% of the behavior problems will be solved if this is done.

Coping with Challenges of Autism – Support Group and Awareness Creation

Creating a Conducive EnvironParents of ment This involves creating an environment of love, care and understanding; teaching them communication skills as well as learning from them how we can best communicate to them. Following their lead, Try and learn from experiences with them to build other learning strategies.

children living with autism came together and formed the Uganda Parents Autism Association (UPAA), a Voluntary non-Governmental Organization led by Parents of children living with autism. UPAA is commit-

persons living with autism and involves parents, specialists working with persons living with autism as educators, medical personnel, psychologists, occupational, speech therapists, among others. UPAA members were brought together with the help of a VSO Speech therapist at Mulago Hospital in the year 2000 and registered with the NGO Board in 2008. UPAA has provided a forum bringing together parents, special needs teachers, speech therapists, occupational therapists, pediatricians and other experts so as to discuss challenges brought about by autism, to find ways of making the lives of children living with autism more comfortable, finding ways of giving them life skills, and training the parents in the care of these children.

Their regular meetings take place every second Saturday of the month at the Children’s centre of All Saints Cathedral Nakasero, Kampala Uganda.

ted to providing a forum for parEstablish a regular pattern/ ents to support one another. It is also committed to creating By Owino Abraham Yeyo (Uganda structure awareness about people living Parents Autism Association Children living with autism have with autism in Uganda and be- UPAA ayowino@yahoo.co.uk yond. The mission of UPAA is “to brains which may have a hard

Volume 1, Issue 2

“We who can

understand must take responsibility to reach out to them by taking time to see, listen and understand … and endeavour to help them. ”

‘…UPAA has provided a forum bringing together parents, special needs teachers, speech therapists, occupational therapists, pediatricians and other experts …’

give quality of life, love and care to persons living with Autism. It ing what is coming in. If you give exists to create awareness among communities beginning them a structure, you are teachwith Uganda, Africa and the rest time processing and understand-

ing their brain to learn to organize

Page 5

The Power of Facebook SCOMER in a bid to promote lion active users.

2. In addition, according medical education and research has ventured into the use of social networking sites particularly facebook.

This is mainly because; 1. As of February 2012 Facebook had more than 845 Mil-

Volume 1, Issue 2 A). MALARIA ERADICATION CAMPAIGN facebook page - We av 2 1st fight corruption’.

-‘Did you know that, …Uganda has the world’s highest malaria incidence, with a rate of 478 cases per 1000 population per year’ - Uganda's ministry of health gives empty medicine boxes/kits to HEALTH TEAMS - Sustain gains, Save lives: Invest in malaria’ - ‘Immune evasion mechanisms of Plasmodium include but not limited to hiding in leukocytes and RBCs’ - ‘Krest(coca-cola product) contains quinine, I wonder if it confers immunity to those that drink it oftenly’ - In my opinion genetic engineering can be used to curb malaria…’

to comScore, Facebook - i have a dream one day Africa will eradicate is the leading social net- malaria if we all work together

More from our Facebook pages - I like this page. I like this campaign! Some very interesting facts’

fact that the child didn`t even ever want to get any closer to her, hitting her head of the floor and with this high pitched cry....... You should for real advocate for these children!

- ‘… i thought u were joking but i proved it yesterday, lets continue the campaign’

the facebook Dr Badoe to organise a formal event for - Have you taken the Harvard CME

created”

online course on Autism? Check it out!

- Must watch MOVIES; See the exceptional skills in these special needs children; “LIKE STARS ON EARTH" &

‘…Just seen a

“THE BOY WITH AN INCREDIBLE BRAIN" … autistic children; “FRONT

a center for Autism in

OF THE CLASS” … Tourette's syn-

Nigeria, wondering if

drome

child with Autism 2 and 1/2 years

- Day of the African child 2012 Theme: “THE RIGHTS OF CHIL-

… if you could

DREN WITH DISABILI-

- ‘i appreciate it. Its a gud move!’

TIES: THE DUTY TO PRO-

only see how the

TECT, RESPECT, PRO-

B). ‘Understanding the Au-

MOTE AND FULFILL.”

tistic Child’ facebook page

- In a culture … that en-

- i believed that am not alone … bse

courages 'discipline' … we

i saw some talk.

may have succeeded at

- Just seen a child with Autism 2 and

something; squashing the

1/2 years … if you could only see

spirit of the austistic child

how the mother was distressed by the

pages we

awareness creation on the spectrum …

- I understand there's

we could link up with such bodies

“...excerpts from

mother was distressed by…’

or worse tipping them over or the Dept of Child health, KBTH via

into early onset schizophrenia. Count-

Page 6

Facebook pages excerpts less times during my psychiatry/

dren from Soweto who died demanding their right to be taught in their own

Volume 1, Issue 2

drifted to classmates from primary

- Did you know: Africa has only 10 percent of the world’s population, but 40 percent of childhood deaths

school who were often at the receiv-

- we need more people with positive think-

ing end of the stick for varying

ing like you so as to propel africa to greater height

clinical psych classes, my mind had

'crimes' ranging from chronic lateness to numerous red inks on their

- keep it up and update us more

test sheets. … Educational empower-

- this child was borne of a mother , not a tree.can we be the back for our own

ment of our basic schools teachers in

By: African Heritage City

most communities may be the lifeline this 'special' African child need!

- Ideas re welcome!!!

C). ‘Africa

for The Children’ facebook page - Every year, the world commemorates The Day of the African Child on 16th June, in honour of 200 chil-

language.

- Th(a)nk u bro, above ol thnk u 4 letting us in4md abt health statuses of ppl especially in Africa.

- "Remember: the naughty kid next door may not be bad, just misunderstood"

- we're looking for ideas on activities

“this child was

that we can take part in….

borne of a

Malaria campaign on Radio A group of students led by Chidinma P. Ohachenu had radio talk show on 28th April, 2012 on the role of the individuals in malaria prevention.

This was live on Vibe FM 91.9 in Ghana. We talked about the simple tips on ma-

laria prevention, encouraging the public with evidence based figures that the Insecticide Treated Nets (ITN) are effective in prevention and their use should be continued. We also talked about chemo-

prophylaxis (especially for pregnant women) and environmental sanitation among others.

As an addendum; we said something on autism that sparked off another debate.

By Tinuade Okoro in Ghana (tinuadeokoro@yahoo.com)

Autism walk in Uganda Graced by The Chancellor of Makerere University, Prof.

Mondo Kagonyera, there was fun and joy as we traversed the streets of Kampala.

The media including 3 television stations covered the event.

Parents, teachers and medical personnel shared their experiences including that of

a parent with 2 autistic children of whom one was 40 years old. It was nice to see the sense of unity among those in attendance.

Students were also given a chance to say something to those in attendance. We pledged

mother , not a tree.can we be the back for our own ”

‘…teacher noticed Joel

to give a hand in raising awareness as well as play a role in medical education and research as regards autism.

FAMSA was represented by John Paul Bagala (President), Cheputyo Priscilla (Treasurer) and I (for SCOMER).

The event was organized by Uganda Parents Autism Association (UPAA).

By Ephraim Kisangala (ephraimkis@gmail.com)

jacking at the door handle repeatedly and not moving away…’

Page 7

SCOMER ACTIVITIES SCOMER committee welcomes any ideas from everybody.

Check our activities on our facebook pages.

We still need columnists for our newsletter which is being released once in 2 months.

Volume 1, Issue 2

We also need student representatives outside Uganda, Kenya, Zambia, Namibia, Ghana and Tanzania. (If interested just email us at scomer2012@gmail.com)

stand, discuss, update and education others.

Please endeavor to join our facebook pages We’ve created the following facebook pages to act as a forum people to ask, under-

1.

FAMSA- SCOMER

2.

Malaria Eradication Campaign

3.

Understanding the Autistic Child

4.

Africa for The Children

2. Currently, the 2 teams are working on mobile applications for Family planning and malaria (details will be availed soon)

3. Provide consultations 1. Work hand in hand in re- for Information Technolsearches that have both IT ogy (IT) related matters 4. Design logos for and medical component FAMSA events at subsi-

applications for Family

FAMSA – CCDI partnership FAMSA through SCOMER has partnered with CCDI (Computer Careers Development Initiative) to see to it that the following are realized;

“mobile

dized costs. It is worth noting that CCDI designed the SCOMER logo for free.

CCDI is a student based and founded organization founded

by Computer science students at the School of Computing and Informatics at Makerere University

planning and malaria ”

‘…free online courses from Harvard…’

Online Courses There are several short online courses that anyone could register for. The Harvard School of Public Health has several courses which are actually free for those in Africa.

The interesting thing about them is that you get a certificate after completion of the course.

You can simple google ‘Harvard online CME’ and you will get there.

Upcoming Meetings A) International AIDS Society Meeting (www.iasociety.org/) B). World Health Summit, 2012 (www.worldhealthsummit.org) C). 2012 International Autism Conference: http:// www.icare4autism.org/ events/2012-international-autismconference/

17th-22nd) at KIU– Western Campus (www.famsanet.org)

D). Conferences site http:// www.conference-service.com/ conferences/medicine.html E). 1st East African Medical Students’ Conference (September

Page 8

SCOMER is one of the five standing committees under the Federation of African Medical Stu-dents’ Association (FAMSA) and functions mainly to promote medical education and research among medical students in Africa.

The new team involves students from several universities across the continent SCOMER

Contact us: scomer2012@gmail.com

Towards a Healthier Africa

W E’ RE ON THE WEB WWW.FAMSANET.ORG

Established in 1968, the Federation of African Medical Students’ Associations, FAMSA, is an independent, non-political Federation of Medical Students’ Associations (MSA’s) in Africa. FAMSA was founded to foster the spirit of friendship and cooperation among African medical students.