Post by tomcamp on Jan 1, 2007 11:30:30 GMT -5
The Alabama Honduras Medical Educational Network (AHMEN) (www.honduranmissions.com) is a faith based non-government organization that has served for the past nine years in Northern Honduras in cooperation with the California Honduras Institute for Medical and Educational Support (CHIMES) and the Carolina Health Foundation at the invitation of the Cruzada Church, which is headquartered in La Ceiba, providing health care free of charge to anyone in need, regardless of race, religion, or ethnicity and without personal agenda. Our work is primarily among the Garifuna in the areas surrounding the communities of Limon, Ciriboya, and Tocamacho. Our medical efforts have moved beyond "band-aid" rescue medicine and with a continuous presence have truly provided quality primary healthcare. In addition to medical care, AHMEN, CHIMES, and the Carolina Health Foundation have built clinics, sewing and woodworking schools, soup kitchens, and are in the process of establishing libraries and an English Language school. This does not mean that there is not yet work to be done.
As you know widespread vision impairment exists as a result of sun and smoke exposure, injury and infection, and lack of proper nutrition and hygiene. AHMEN has never been fortunate enough to have an optometrist or ophthalmologist accompany our teams, and since we have not previously had a system for referral, our vision program has consisted of dispensing reading glasses and limited prescription ware using the InFocus focometer and instant eye glasses.
However, we are working to expand our eye care program in anticipation of establishing a workable referral system. Below are some of the prospective proposals:
1. To equip a mobile diagnostic unit with sufficient portable, battery operated, non invasive, user friendly instrumentation to screen for some of the more prevalent eye diseases for which medication and/or surgery can be obtained and to keep detailed and accurate patient report forms. The equipment needed will be dependent upon the data requirements of the host ophthalmologist.
2. To arrange for a conference/ seminar in "para optometry" for prospective vision team members so that patient screening / refraction will be accurate and efficient. Currently this is planned for late winter/ early spring 2007 and hopefully under cosponsorship by SIFAT and/or the Sparkman Center for Global Medicine (UAB, Birmingham).
3. To offer community eye care education programs and make available UV protective sunglasses to all children and adults as preventive measures.
4. To screen all children, via the churches or schools, for vision impairment and provide them with corrective lenses before their impairment becomes irreparable; and their education, stymied.
5. To increase the prescription lens inventory to include a sufficient number of cylindrical as well as spherical lenses.
6. To retain an adequate supply of reading glasses.
7. Arranging for Donna Goff, a local nurse who has worked with AHMEN since its inception to train with Valerie Colby, a missionary optometrist in Tegucigalpa, this winter. Beginning in 2007 Donna will function as Eye Nurse and the Expanded Eye Care Program Administrator responsible for maintaining the lens and equipment inventories at the clinic in Limon, will be the liaison with the host ophthalmologist, and will provide vision care when teams are not in country.
Please feel free to communicate with Cruzada (cruzadas.sandy@gmail.com) and to discuss medical/technical details with Dr. Tom Camp, director of AHMEN, at llamacamp@hughes.net or with Dr. M. Brad Guffey, Fellow, Infectious Disease, University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine at guffey@uab.edu.
You may also want to take a look at the Birmingham (Alabama) Post Herald website (www.postherald.com/honduras.shtml). This series brings light to several special aspects of our Network's mission which are not conventional and extend beyond medical care. You may be interested as well in the comments of Dr. Elias Lizardo, former Health Minister of Honduras and current Advising Minister on Social affairs during a radio interview with Network administrator Dr. Nath Camp on NPR News at www.wbhm.org/News/2005/Help_for_Honduras.html.
As you know widespread vision impairment exists as a result of sun and smoke exposure, injury and infection, and lack of proper nutrition and hygiene. AHMEN has never been fortunate enough to have an optometrist or ophthalmologist accompany our teams, and since we have not previously had a system for referral, our vision program has consisted of dispensing reading glasses and limited prescription ware using the InFocus focometer and instant eye glasses.
However, we are working to expand our eye care program in anticipation of establishing a workable referral system. Below are some of the prospective proposals:
1. To equip a mobile diagnostic unit with sufficient portable, battery operated, non invasive, user friendly instrumentation to screen for some of the more prevalent eye diseases for which medication and/or surgery can be obtained and to keep detailed and accurate patient report forms. The equipment needed will be dependent upon the data requirements of the host ophthalmologist.
2. To arrange for a conference/ seminar in "para optometry" for prospective vision team members so that patient screening / refraction will be accurate and efficient. Currently this is planned for late winter/ early spring 2007 and hopefully under cosponsorship by SIFAT and/or the Sparkman Center for Global Medicine (UAB, Birmingham).
3. To offer community eye care education programs and make available UV protective sunglasses to all children and adults as preventive measures.
4. To screen all children, via the churches or schools, for vision impairment and provide them with corrective lenses before their impairment becomes irreparable; and their education, stymied.
5. To increase the prescription lens inventory to include a sufficient number of cylindrical as well as spherical lenses.
6. To retain an adequate supply of reading glasses.
7. Arranging for Donna Goff, a local nurse who has worked with AHMEN since its inception to train with Valerie Colby, a missionary optometrist in Tegucigalpa, this winter. Beginning in 2007 Donna will function as Eye Nurse and the Expanded Eye Care Program Administrator responsible for maintaining the lens and equipment inventories at the clinic in Limon, will be the liaison with the host ophthalmologist, and will provide vision care when teams are not in country.
Please feel free to communicate with Cruzada (cruzadas.sandy@gmail.com) and to discuss medical/technical details with Dr. Tom Camp, director of AHMEN, at llamacamp@hughes.net or with Dr. M. Brad Guffey, Fellow, Infectious Disease, University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine at guffey@uab.edu.
You may also want to take a look at the Birmingham (Alabama) Post Herald website (www.postherald.com/honduras.shtml). This series brings light to several special aspects of our Network's mission which are not conventional and extend beyond medical care. You may be interested as well in the comments of Dr. Elias Lizardo, former Health Minister of Honduras and current Advising Minister on Social affairs during a radio interview with Network administrator Dr. Nath Camp on NPR News at www.wbhm.org/News/2005/Help_for_Honduras.html.