1june 2013

Pharmacy LaboratorycLinicob/Gyn care•  UTI/STI Screening•   Breast Exam•   Cancer Screening•   Pregnancy Test•   Prenatal Care•   Ultrasound

Women’s WeLLness•   Pap Smear •   Blood Pressure•   Lipid Profile•   Contraceptives•   Anemia•  Nutrition Care

Pediatric care•   Immunizations•   Check-ups•  Malnutrition    Reduction

maLe WeLLness•   Prostate Cancer•  Gout•   Blood Pressure•   Lipid Profile•   Circumcision•   Semen Analysis•   Paternity Test

Lab tests•  Malaria•  HIV Testing and Counseling•   TB Test•  Hepatitis B and C•   Stool and Urine Analyses•   Anemia Test (HB)•   Typhoid Test (Widal)•   Arthritis (Rheumatoid Factors)•   Ulcers (H. pylori Test)•   Influenza A and B•   Lipid Profile  (Heart Disease)•  Diabetes Prevention (A1C) •   Liver Function (LFT, Bilirubin) •   Culture and Sensitivity

We treat and disPense:•  Malaria•  Hypertension•  HIV/AIDS•  Diabetes•   Bacterial Infection•   Viral Infection•   Fungal Infection•   Seizures•   Ulcers•   Analgesics

•   Allergies•  Dewormers

W e are  very  pleased  to  announce  that the  TropicalClinics  Pharmacy &  Treat-ment Center in Kakamega is now open 

and fully operational! We currently have 12 well-trained staff members, including seven medical professionals. Our facilities include consultation rooms, a pharmacy, and a lab.

We are located in the center of Kakamega Town, and  serve  patients  from  the  larger  Kakamega County region. We currently treat around 15 pa-tients a day.

Our  clinic  is  fully  equipped  with  examination tables,  hospital  beds,  computers,  and medical supplies  for  all  necessary  vital  signs.  Our  lab contains  reagents,  testing  kits,  and  panels,  in addition  to  a  microscope,  autoclave,  and  cen-trifuge. TropicalClinics Pharmacy  is currently  in-stalling an electronic medical record system for efficient inventory tracking.

We are excited to see the progress that the clinic has already achieved, and we look forward to a bright and successful future! 

our cLinic is oPen

To Our Friends and Supporters

summer 2013 eNewsletterin this issue: Announcing Clinic Opening     TropicalClinics Mission     Founder’s Corner     Upcoming Events  TCRH Collaboration     Princeton University Internship Program     Acknowledgements     Become a TropicalClinics Ambassador

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15patients seen per day

90%of patients can afford our care ($4 consultation)

3 in 5patients entering the clinic suffer from malaria

75 : 25women:men treated

analgesic tablets given / day200

by the numberstroPicaLcLinics

missionTropicalClinics’ mission is to rehabilitate children from extreme malnutrition and vaccine-preventable diseases; treat and nurture HIV/AIDS patients to become productive members of the community; prevent mothers and newborns from dying in childbirth; and offer preventive screenings to over 50 people per day through state-of-the-art medical centers in rural regions of developing nations, starting in Kakamega, Kenya.

The Clinics present a unique model of providing access to affordable medical and preventive care to the impoverished rural poor.  Our centers are filled with high quality medical equipment, stocked with essential medicine and nutrients, and staffed with well-trained health care providers.

Dr. Margaret Kilibwa, the founding executive director of TropicalClinics, has a simple but functional philosophy:Fo

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3june 2013

annuaL GaLa, With meera GandhiSunday, October 20th, 5:00PM - 9:00PMCarl A. Fields Center, Princeton University•  Keynote Speaker: Humanitarian Meera Gandhi, founder and CEO of the Giving Back Foundation•   Presentation by Dr. Margaret Kilibwa, founder and director of TropicalClinics •   Remarks by Dr. Bruce Charash, founder and Chairman of the Board of “Doc to Dock”•   Silent Auction•   African Dance Performance

cLinic oPeninG ceremonyJuly 12th, 9:00AMTropicalClinics, Kholera House, Kakamega, Kenya•   Speech by Governor Wycliffe Oparanya Ambetsa of Kakamega County•   Presentation by Dr. Margaret Kilibwa, founder and director of TropicalClinics•   Remarks by TropicalClinics staff•   Tour of the clinic

Meera Gandhi

B e passionate about rural health care and empower women  and  their  families  to  create  healthy communities.  This  is  what  TropicalClinics  medical 

center means for the larger Kakamega region - that a well-stocked and state-of-the-art treatment center supports not only access to quality health care but also the organization’s core  mission  of  community  service.  There  is  no  better example  of  that  mission  than  an  investment  in  the  well-being of women, children, and their families.

This rural region was selected for three major reasons: (i) there is a serious shortage of medical supplies, equipment and medicine at public medical facilities in the Kakamega region – 90% of the facilities do not have HIV-testing kits; (ii) only 20% of women in need of antiretroviral therapy (ART) receive  this  treatment  compared  to 60% of men needing the same treatment; (iii) TropicalClinics is unique in provid-ing most of the pharmaceutical and treatment services at affordable fees for the rural community.

Our main  tools  for effective preventive and palliative care are realized through outcome measures of our rural health efforts. We are keeping electronic patient medical records, implementing  HIV/AIDS  awareness  and  care  programs, providing  specialized  diagnostic  services,  managing  the 

pharmaceutical inventory tracking, evaluating oral and eye health care, offering consultations on women’s and men’s health, tracking public health outreach campaigns, and pro-viding nutritional and social work counseling. We expect to significantly  impact the health of these rural communities and allow the residents to actively participate in the devel-opment of economic efficiency in their  local communities, standing as care models for the rural regions of other de-veloping nations.

TropicalClinics’ community value will ultimately be measured by  its  ability  to  reduce maternal  morbidity  and mortality, create  jobs  at  the  health  center,  decrease  prevalence  of preventable  diseases  and  spread  of  HIV  infection,  and bolster  the  local  economy.  In  addition,  TropicalClinics  is building  and maintaining  strong  bonds  and  relationships with  the  community-based  organizations  of  the  rural communities  in  Kenya,  as  well  as  the  country’s  health agencies,  to help deliver a multiplicity of health programs and services to the residents of the rural regions of Kenya. This creates a new paradigm of medical services, training, and  local  empowerment welcomed by  local  governments, communities, and healthcare providers. 

W

T ropicalClinics  is  proud  to  introduce  its  student chaptership  program,  TropicalClinics  for  Rural Health  (TCRH),  starting with  its  founding  chap-

ter at Princeton University. Princeton TCRH has offered immeasurable  support  by  spreading  TropicalClinics’ mission and organizing fundraisers to provide financial support for the clinic’s efforts. Princeton TCRH consists of five committees -- here are updates from the leaders of each committee!

The Rural Health Activism Committee plans a  variety of events  to  raise awareness about various pertinent rural health issues. This past semester, the committee planned  documentary  screenings  of  Sinesipho: Why must I die? and Lazarus Effect, dinner discussions with prominent  scholars  in  Princeton's  Global  Health  Pro-gram, and an art project to address rural health issues. These projects and events have given TCRH members the  opportunity  to  learn  about  issues  in  a  proactive manner and become better acquainted with  the mis-sion of TropicalClinics. Akshata Shirahatti, VP of Rural Health Activism

The  Outreach  and  Publicity  committee  has  been  in-tegral  in  expanding  the  original  six-person  executive board to a fully-fledged chapter with over thirty active members. Outreach and Publicity has increased aware-ness of  rural health  issues on campus through docu-mentary screenings and dinner discussions. O&P has also  spearheaded  the  recruitment  of  new  members through various advertising  venues and social media such as the chapter blog and Facebook page. Patricia Yeh, VP of Outreach and Publicity

This year, the Special Events Committee held Tropical-Clinics’  first  ever  5K  race!  It  wound  through  campus and was a great success, with about 100 total attend-ees. The committee worked hard throughout the spring to get some great sponsors for the event. The 5K was a great way to bring the community and the university together to raise awareness for the cause of Tropical-Clinics.  In  the  fall,  we  are  looking  forward  to  helping plan a Gala and also to planning our next 5K.Theresa Meyer, Chair of Special Events 

This year,  the Chaptership Expansion committee con-tacted  the Health  Professions Offices  of  over  80  col-leges  around  the  United  States  and  abroad.  We  re-ceived several responses from interested students and currently have an established an Executive Board  for Santa  Clara  University  as  well  as  developing  Execu-tive Boards for Johns Hopkins University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and New York University. We are very excited about the progress that has been made thus far and look forward to expanding further.Christine Hildreth, VP of Chaptership Expansion

This  year,  the  fundraising  committee  hosted  a  pizza eating  contest  sponsored  by  Naked  Pizza.  An  event with Cheeburger Cheeburger was our most successful fundraiser  of  the  year!  Our  communiversity  event, where  we  painted  the  faces  of  Princeton  community members,  increased  awareness  of  TropicalClinics’ mission  and  raised  funds  for  the  clinic.  Overall,  the committee  contributed  significantly  to  TropicalClinics this year through our events!Max Silver, VP of Fundraising

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5june 2013

T ropicalClinics  is  currently hosting  four  interns  (Ryan  El-liott,  Edwin  Carbajal,  Stephen 

Cognetta, and Jean Choi) from Princ-eton University through the Princeton International Internship Program. Our program participants receive individ-ual  mentorship  and  support  during the  course  of  their  stay  in  Kakame-ga.  They  also  have  the  opportunity to experience life  in rural Kenya and see  the  country’s  many  attractions through  the  program’s  biweekly  Fri-day Outings to locations such as the Kakamega  Forest  Reserve.  We  are excited  to  offer  our  interns  both  in-sight into our clinic and an immersive cultural experience in Kenya.

Ryan is aiding the clinic in its out-reach  efforts  to  community  leaders and the rural population of Kakame-ga.  He is working alongside Tropical-Clinics’  Social Worker  to  collaborate with  community  health  workers  and community  leaders  who  can  raise awareness  of  major  health  issues and  the  services  provided  by  Tropi-calClinics. He has already helped the clinic  to  establish  relationships  with the Salvation Army of Kenya West Ter-ritory,  the Masinde Muliro University of  Science  &  Technology,  and  Stan-dard Chartered Bank.

Edwin  is  participating  in  the pathological and diagnostic services internship.  He  has  had  a  chance  to test  the  equipment  in  the  laborato-ry  for  calibration  and  accuracy,  to qualify  diagnostic  images  and  test results,  and  to  automate  specimen collection,  preparation,  and  final  re-porting. By  continuing  to  review  test methodologies  and  new  tests  in  re-lation  to  current  diagnostic  clinical medicine, he provides support for ac-curate diagnostic services necessary for appropriate risk assessment and therapeutic  monitoring.  As  a  result, patients  can  make  decisions  to  im-prove their health and well-being.

Stephen and Jean are working on the  pharmaceutical  inventory  track-ing system for the clinic. This involves cataloguing,  describing,  and  orga-nizing  pharmaceuticals,  nutrients, and medical  supplies  using  invento-ry  tracking  systems  that  are utilized in developing nations. This will allow TropicalClinics Pharmacy to track out-going prescriptions, and ensure  it  is fully stocked. 

our summer 2013 interns: stephen cognetta ‘15, Jean choi ‘15, edwin carbajal ‘14, ryan elliot ‘14

1. The winner of a pizza-eating contest hosted by the Prince-ton TCRH Fundraising Committee. Taken by a TCRH volunteer.2. Participants in Trop-icalClinics’ first annual 5K. Taken by Ann Pregner.3. A visitor to Tropical-Clinics’ face-painting fundraiser booth at Princeton’s Communi-versity festival. Taken by Michael Chang ‘16.

internshiP ProGram

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donate noWhttp://tropicalclinics.org/donate_now.shtmlThe people of Kakamega need effective medical care. You can help save lives. 

become an ambassadorhttp://www.facebook.com/tropicalclinicsWould you like to be a TropicalClinics Ambassador? Tell others about TropicalClin-ics and become a fan on our Facebook page (link above). Just visit our page, log in to your Facebook account, and at the top corner click the “Become a Fan” link. Fans will receive a t-shirt from TropicalClinics!

T ropicalClinics’ supporters help make its mission a reality. Without the help of our partners and individual benefactors, we could not have achieved what we have until today, and we hope that with your continued support, we can 

expand our services and facilities to better serve the rural population of Kenya.  

Phone: 0711 742 018 / 0721 914 979Email: info@tropicalclinics.org

Website: http://www.tropicalclinics.org

sPeciaL thanks to Major Contributors: Bruce Charash, Meera Gandhi and The Giving Back FoundationContributors: Michael Evers, Juan Navia, Elena Zezima, LaGrangeville Freedom Plains Church, Princeton Alliance Church, and the members of the Princeton TCRH Chapter for their continued support and dedication to the TropicalClinics cause.

designed by Jean Choi and Stephen Cognettanwdesigners.wordpress.com