Improving health services in Upper Egypt
She may be only 23 years of age, but Tahany Mohamed is already someone whom the children thronging the dusty streets of Beni Shoqair have reason to thank. For the past four years, Tahany has worked as a senior nurse at the local Primary Health Care Centre, a large two-storey building on the outskirts of this sprawling rural community, on the banks of the river Nile some 400 kilometres south of Cairo. Tahany's speciality is reproductive health and safe delivery. And today, her first assignment is to pay a home visit to a woman who has just given birth. "We try to visit all new mothers after they've delivered," says Tahany as she packs here medical bag with sterilized dressings, gloves, swabs and other vital items. "It's so important to give them the support and advice to look after their newborn." A brisk walk through the dusty streets of Beni Shoqair takes Tahany and two other clinic staff accompanying her to the home of 18-year old Walaa Ibrameh and her day-old baby boy, Essam. Perched at the bedside, Tahany weighs and examines the baby, and then runs through some information about breast-feeding and other aspects of baby-care with Walaa. Finally, Tahany gives Walaa a Vitamin A supplement pill -- an essential nutrient for mothers after delivery (and part of a national campaign supported by UNICEF) before assuring her that she'll be back for further follow-up visits over the coming days. "This is the part of the job I like best," says Tahany as she adjusts her white nurse's cap and prepares to head back to the clinic. "I really feel I'm contributing something to the community – and it's also the time when I appreciate most the value of the training in midwifery and infant healthcare that UNICEF provided me with last year." Raising the standard of health and nutritional care for children in Beni Shoqair forms part of a broader assistance programme designed to benefit some of Egypt's most deprived communities. Beni Shoqair falls within Manfalout – one of six districts in the governorates of Assiut, Qena and Sohag, covered by a UNICEF programme known as Integrated Local Development (ILD).
Project Officer Rajen Kumar Sharma says ILD is a two-prong strategy: "What we're trying to do is raise awareness in the community about health and nutrition, so that people will use the services that are available. At the same time we are working to improve those services. In other words, we're promoting both the supply and the demand." Back at Beni Shoqair health centre, the director, Dr. Ilea Abdu Ilea, is examining another patient – a five year old girl with a fever who's been brought in by her father. Dr Ilea says that with UNICEF's support, the clinic is better able to deliver the services needed by Beni Shokair's 30,000 inhabitants. "We're seeing more people coming to the clinic than before, because they understand the need for the help we can provide," says Dr Ilea. "Expectant mothers in particular are coming more frequently, whether for check-up, or to take part in the health awareness sessions that we now organize. Plus our vaccination coverage rates are now up to 100 per cent across the community." The awareness sessions are held in a large upstairs hall, where groups of women listen to clinic staff explaining the importance of nutrition, hygiene and other childcare issues. The video equipment used by the instructors was provided by UNICEF, which is also funding the construction of a specially-designed training room at the centre.
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