Dr. Sylvie Péloquin leaves again for Tanzania

She is part of a group of 25 people (doctors, nurses and Canadian administrative support staff) who all serve as volunteers. They will pay for their own airfare and for the medicines intended for Tanzanian nationals (approximately $4,000). They will spend two weeks there and will visit nine different villages of Tanzania, located at the foot of Kilimanjaro. They will treat about 500 patients a day who suffer from different illnesses.

One of CACHA’s objectives is to screen for the AIDS virus using a test the results of which are known in a few minutes. Tanzanians with various illnesses visit the clinics and the medical teams expect to find 30% of them infected with the AIDS virus. But they are able to detect only 6% of AIDS-infected Tanzanians who visit the clinics. This gap is explained by the fact that men aged between 20 and 50 are not willing to go to the clinics because they fear that they will be social outcasts if they are discovered to be AIDS-positive; another reason is that they do not have the financial resources to pay for treatment.

To meet more of the people at risk, Dr. Péloquin and her team will go to public markets and to other areas where they can show short films in the Swahili language discussing the prevention, screening and treatment of AIDS. These videos will be projected on a 37-inch flat screen and they will also discuss how to live with AIDS. The men will be encouraged to submit to screening on site and those who are found positive will be invited to go to the CACHA centre for free treatment. Tanzanian translators will take the opportunity of distributing condoms and pertinent information sheets to attendees.

CACHA pays the local staff (translators, drivers), and also for the shipment of 8000 condoms in addition to the audio-visual equipment, generator and the rest of the materials which amount to thousands of dollars. The material will be left behind for the hospital’s Tanzanian team members who will continue this educational campaign when the Canadian group departs. The ultimate goal is to promote the autonomy of the local health network by providing financial and technical support.

Dr. Sylvie Péloquin is soliciting the support of people to help defray the additional costs related to this mission. A total of $4,500.00 is needed, and she is inviting all persons who want to support this humanitarian work to contribute what they can. They can write a check payable to CACHA pour Dre Péloquin, addressed to Polyclinique Île-des-Sœurs, 2010 René Lévesque Boulevard, L'Île-des-Soeurs, Qc H3E 1Z4. Receipts for charitable donations will be issued.