Clinical outreach and Flying Doctor Service
AMREF Flying Doctors' clinical outreach is a unique program that takes medical specialists to remote health facilities throughout the Eastern African region.
Eighteen different types of specialists - sourced from AMREF, African university teaching hospitals, and regional hospitals - are deployed to rural communities that would otherwise not have access to this level or diversity of medical expertise.
AMREF Flying Doctors' planes take specialist surgeons to areas where there are limited medical services and little or no surgical services. Local health workers identify patients who will receive treatment by the AMREF specialists. These patients also serve as surgical case studies that promote local medical skill development through experiential learning. Expert doctors conduct operations in the presence of community health providers, training them in surgical procedures and techniques and proper pre-op and post-op care.
The 'Flying Doctors' also provide free emergency evacuations for local patients. Read here the story of a teenage boy's evacuation from Wamba Mission Hospital.
The AMREF laboratory network provides clinical and public health support to several countries in the region. Its services are particularly important where there is no government public health service, where it monitors disease outbreaks such as cholera, kala-azar and meningitis. AMREF is the lead partner in a WHO-supported programme to establish a quality control model for rural laboratories which also builds local expertise throughout East Africa. This will be replicated in South African states.
All of these services can be mobilized for rapid humanitarian response to disaster situations. In emergencies, AMREF concentrates on the health aspects and works closely with ministries of health, health facilities operated by other non-governmental organizations, and specialized relief agencies to address immediate needs and future disaster preparedness.
We respond quickly to a broad range of problems such as epidemic disease outbreaks, famine, civil strife with injury and disease, major accidents, flooding and other environmental emergencies. Staff, supplies, transport and laboratory support can be provided on short notice in consultation with governments, international organizations, and other NGOs.
Recent interventions have focused on famine, flooding, cholera, Rift Valley Fever, and the terrorist bomb blasts in Kampala, Uganda.
Read more about the Flying Doctor Service
