Sri Lanka: Primary Care Clinic Yayawatta

Providing Quality Care for 646 Patients: Q1 2018

May 08, 2018

Stephney Minerva Fernando

Summary of Activities

RMF’s Real Medicine Clinic was established on October 28, 2006, to serve the fishing community in the areas of Nilwella, Kudawella, Mawella, and Moraketi-Ara, who had been affected by the devastating tsunami. The clinic has rendered its services to the lower-income people groups in the areas of Palapotha, Kadurupokuna, Moraketi-Ara, and Seenimodara, and it has been successful for 11 years thanks to Real Medicine Foundation.

The clinic was open 10 days each month to provide free healthcare services to the community of Yayawatta and Seenimodera in Tangalle, Sri Lanka, and the surrounding villages and communities of Palapotha, Kadurupokuna, and Seenimodera. During the first quarter of 2018, we saw an average of 21.5 patients per day, treating a total of 646 patients.

 

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Results &

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

January 2018

220 Patients Treated

  • 220 patients, 86 male and 134 female, were treated at the Real Medicine Clinic in January.
  • There were 143 direct beneficiaries, and the most common illness was lower respiratory tract infections due to the unexpected heavy rain, strong winds, and chilly climate.
  • 35 indirect beneficiaries were treated for lower respiratory tract infections. Direct and indirect beneficiaries received treatment for5 types of diseases. A total of 77 patients were indirect beneficiaries, and they came from Palapotha, Kadurupokuna, Seenimodera, and Moraketi-Ara.

February 2018

216 Patients Treated

  • 216 patients, 104 male and 112 female, were treated at the Real Medicine Clinic in February.
  • The number of direct beneficiaries was 138, and the most common illness was viral fever and upper respiratory tract infections due to the unexpected heavy rain, strong winds, and chilly climate.
  • 51 indirect beneficiaries were treated for viral fever, and 19 were treated for upper respiratory tract infections. Direct and indirect beneficiaries received treatment for 4 types of diseases. The number of the indirect beneficiaries was 78, and they came from Palapotha, Kadurupokuna, Seenimodera, and Moraketi-Ara to obtain treatment at the Real Medicine Clinic.
  • This free health clinic is entirely a gift from Real Medicine Foundation, which has a heart to help our communities that suffer from the tsunami’s destruction and from poverty.

March 2018

210 Patients Treated

  • 210 patients, 97 male and 113 female, were treated at the Real Medicine Clinic in March.
  • There were 140 direct beneficiaries from Yayawatta who received treatment, and the most common illness was viral fever and upper respiratory tract infections due to the unexpected heavy rain, strong winds, and chilly climate. Direct and indirect beneficiaries were treated for 6 types of diseases.
  • 25 of the indirect beneficiaries were treated for viral fever, and 17 were treated for upper respiratory tract infections. They came from Palapotha, Kadurupokuna, Seenimodera, and Moraketi-Ara. A total of 70 patients came to the Real Medicine Clinic from these surrounding villages.
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Background

& Objectives

Background

After completing Real Medicine’s immediate tsunami relief efforts at the Mawella Camp Clinic, a second clinic was opened in Yayawatta in October 2006. The clinic is open for 10 days each month to provide free healthcare services to the community of Yayawatta and Seenimodera in Tangalle, Sri Lanka, and the surrounding villages and communities of Palapotha, Kadurupokuna, and Seenimodera. With no resources to hire private transportation and no access to public transport, the clinic provides the only locally based medical care within the community, easily accessible and within walking distance of most villages and beneficiaries. To expand our reach to the surrounding communities, our primary health care clinic staff conducts off-site clinics at local schools and community centers to provide poor rural children with free checks-ups, and medicines.

Objectives

  • Support the community with free, high quality healthcare services
  • Approximately 94 tsunami-affected families and the surrounding communities in 4 villages: a population of 4,000.
  • Help to create a healthy community, especially amongst the younger generation
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More

Photos

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Real Medicine Foundation - more photos.
Real Medicine Foundation - more photos.
Real Medicine Foundation - more photos.
Real Medicine Foundation - more photos.
Real Medicine Foundation - more photos.
Real Medicine Foundation - more photos.
Real Medicine Foundation - more photos.
Real Medicine Foundation - more photos.
Real Medicine Foundation - more photos.
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Numbers

Served

Direct Beneficiaries

Number of Patients Served

646 patients were treated

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Success

Stories

A.P. Meenu

Upper Respiratory Tract Infection

A.P. Meenu is the 11-year-old daughter of Mrs. Dimuthu, the Assistant to the Medical Consultant of RMF, and she is a direct beneficiary of the Real Medicine Clinic. Meenu arrived at the Real Medicine Clinic with a mild fever she had been suffering from for 2 days.

We treated Meenu with simple antibiotics and with Paracetamol and advised her to increase her fluid intake. Three days later she was examined again as her fever had persisted, and she also had an upper respiratory tract infection. Her full blood count was completely normal; dengue fever was excluded. Meenu was then treated accordingly and now she is well.

Mrs. Karunawathi

Diabetes Mellitus

Mrs. Karunawathi, a 47-year-old woman, arrived at the Real Medicine Clinic with complaints of excessive thirst, increased frequency of passing urine, loss of appetite, lethargy, recent significant weight gain, and a few episodes of vomiting.

We took a thorough clinical history and the clinical diagnosis was diabetes mellitus. We asked her to do an FBS (fasting blood sugar) blood test, and we reviewed the report at the clinic the following day. The blood report showed a very high sugar value (275 mg/dl) and confirmed the clinical diagnosis. We referred Mrs. Karunawathi to a consultant physician, where treatment has begun, and now her blood sugar level is under control. Now Mrs. Karunawathi is asymptomatic and is on regular clinic follow-up as well as continuous treatment for diabetes.