David Brett,
I perhaps I am out of date, but also the countries you work in may be
better serviced than those I worked in? I was full time in Lesotho from
1973-1978 and Zambia for 1978-1986. I have more recently spent short
medical missions in two different areas of Kenya and this year I was in
Malawi and Lesotho for a few weeks of rural medical care.
I hope you get all the supplies you need packaged and sorted and in
sufficient quantities. But I can tell you as of April 1999 that isn't
happening yet in Zambia, Malawi, or Rural Kenya.
I do sympathize with your shortage of time. I felt that way too for the 12
years I worked full time in Africa. But since I have been in private
practice in the USA I look back with longing at my time in the bush! But I
think you could get students to take apart the small sample packages and
condense any given sample into useable sizes? Again, use Martindales to see
what uses some of your supposedly useless samples might have for your needs.
Once I got "dumped" a lot of doxepin in Zambia, and frankly I didn't have
much depression to treat there. But when I learned that it was a great H1
and H2 blocker, I cures a lot of peptic ulcers with doxepin, when I had not
access to cimetadine, etc.
Similarly we didn't have acne in Zambia, but you know the antibacterial
actions of those acne medications (benzoyl
peroxide/sulfur/nasulfacetamide/erythromycin) can be used for the tropical
ulcers we had in abundance.
I'm not against rational supplies. I am against donor bashing, till
everyone has enough rational supplies.
Jack Hoehn
John B. Hoehn, M.D.(USA); CCFP (Canada); DTM&H (London)
Family Physician
HOME: jhoehn@bmi.net
OFFICE: HoehnJB@wwmail.ah.org
Dr. John B. Hoehn
Blue Mountain Medical Group
1111 S. Second Avenue
P.O. Box 1397
Walla Walla, WA 99362
FAX: (509) 527-8010
Day and Answering Service:(509) 522-0100 Ext.3200
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