Access to health care

Srinagar, Indian-Administered Kashmir,
October 2005

I'm back from three nice nights in Monrovia, where we can stay in very nice apartments with HOT WATER! On the way there we stopped at one of our clinics where a woman was in labor distress and needed to be transported to the Liberian Government Hospital in Buchanan. The clinic had stopped a few cars but the drivers had demanded 400 Liberian Dollars (US$8.16) and the woman's family couldn't afford it.

We radioed for a Merlin vehicle heading back to Monrovia to take the woman but by incredible luck a Medecins sans frontieres car came by with Dr. Jochan. He delivered the baby but it had died.

This could almost certainly have been prevented. It was her second pregnancy and second loss. Better health education and the option for family planning would probably have helped. Better access from rural areas to the clinics (she had had to walk to the clinic) would also have helped. An ambulance system that could be dispatched to the clinic could or her home would probably have saved the baby's life. Actually we expect to be able to put an ambulance in place, thanks to an anonymous donor, but the attitude of Liberians who wouldn't even take her to the hospital is always going to be a stumbling block.