«PIt was a great privilege for us to participate in this project ». This is how Clara Stroppa, 24, and Isabella Hunjan, 26, undergraduate and recent graduate in Medicine at the University of Milan Bicocca, summarize the meaning of their experience: two months of work at the health center of the Mabawa Foundation in Nyamyumba, in Southern Rwanda. Objective, control and treatment of hypertension in the local populationwith a view to preventing cardiovascular diseases.
Clara Stroppa and Isabella Hunjan, undergraduate and recent graduate in Medicine at the University of Milan Bicocca, at the Nyamymba health center, in Rwanda, with their 100th patient.
“It all started a few years ago, when we noticed the large number of unexpected deaths in sleep, and the first blood pressure checks were made,” says Clara. «It has been seen that there were many cases of hypertension which had never been diagnosed. It was thought that in a village far from Kigali, stress was not known and there were fewer risk factors than in a city. Instead it is not like that. From there a first screening started ».
In Africa, there are 2 million deaths each year attributed to diabetes and hypertension, and it is estimated that only 10-20 percent of those at risk are regularly under treatment. “The change in lifestyles in Africa has led to an explosion of non-infectious diseases», Explains Professor Gianfranco Parati, professor of Cardiology at the School of Medicine in Milan Bicocca and scientific director of the Auxologico in Milan. “Health care is prepared to cope with acute infections, while it cannot cope with chronic diseases, apart from HIV. The agreement with Rwanda aims to make the population less active and to train local operators ».
Three years for the Milano Bicocca project in Rwanda
The Nyamyumba First Aid Center offers support for basic outpatient clinics, such as obstetrics, epilepsy, and hypertension. «Screening involves a first complete visit and then periodic checks. But people must be reached house by house, you have to explain what it is, many have never seen a doctor in their lifeContinues Isabella. “We went with the help of local operators, who spoke the local language, because no one knows English. There in the clinic there is a fixed nurse, Alice Umulisa, very good, who gets help from an operator, Berta. Their work is amazing because it motivates people to get checked. With us a heart attack can be recovered, it is more difficult there “.
«But going from house to house, talking, the message passes and everyone is convinced to show up at the health center, walking a long way on foot, without cars or bikes. Awareness about health and nutrition is important, and it will pay off. We have seen 200 patients, but they are only the first. Other students are arriving from Lugano and Milano Bicocca ».
Clara Stroppa and Isabella Hunjan, undergraduate and graduate in Medicine at the University of Milan Bicocca, inside the Nyamyumba health center in Rwanda.
A strong sense of community
An experience like this cannot be forgotten. “We have been in contact with a very poor reality, but where solidarity and a sense of community are very strong,” says Clara. “Every last Saturday of the month, everyone – of all ages – spontaneously and enthusiastically participate in the works that are useful for the community. Obviously we didn’t back down. They gave us hoes in hand and we started digging a ditch to collect water ».
The Milano Bicocca project will go on for three years. specific training programs will be carried out, in collaboration with the hospitals of Rwanda, with exchanges of doctors and trainees, and scholarships will be activated. In addition, field support in Nyamymba will continue, coordinated by Dr. Franco Muggli from Lugano. “Our university is ready to support the health challenge of a country like Rwuanda still committed today to heal the wounds of the 1994 genocide,” said Giovanna Iannantuoni, rector of Milano Bicocca.
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