Lori Thicke had an epiphany in Thange in eastern Kenya when she saw Aids orphans playing in front of posters with advice on Aids prevention. “The posters carried excellent advice, but they were in English, a language that people didn’t understand,” she said.

What was the use of this information provided by well-meaning NGOs, she wondered, if the people they were trying to reach could not read English. “People are delivering aid every day in Africa in English, French and Portuguese,” said Thicke. “That is fine for the educated elite, but they don’t need aid. It is the parents among the poor who need the information on symptoms of malaria.”

She saw the fatal effects of the language gap in India too, where mothers could have saved their children from dying from diarrhoea if they had followed the simple advice on health brochures and leaflets.

Thicke, a Canadian who came to Paris to write the great Canadian novel but founded a translation company instead, had pinpointed a glaring but little-noticed paradox in the information revolution. thanks to the internet and mobile phones, knowledge and information is disseminated far and wide and at speed. but that knowledge is wasted unless understood by those who need it most.

Translators without Borders was founded by Thicke and Ros Smith-Thomas in 1993 after Médecins sans Frontières, the medical NGO, asked her company, Lexcelera, to work on a translation project. She asked if they needed translation often, and if giving them the words for free would be like a donation. They said yes to both questions, and TWB was born. but until that moment in Kenya two years ago, the group dealt mostly with European languages. now Thicke is determined to bridge what she calls the “language last mile” in the developing world.

One of the group’s current projects is to teach sex workers in the Kibera slum of Nairobi, Kenya, to translate material in English on sexually transmitted diseases into languages such as Swahili, Luo and Kikuyu. The project started last week, with Simon Andriesen, a specialist on medical translation who is on the TWB board. He will teach about 125 women from Kibera, who speak different languages, to translate four-page brochures in English into the different Kenyan languages.

“He is teaching them translation skills so they can reach their own people,” said Thicke. “All the girls from Kibera represent different languages. They have been recommended to us by a health NGO and their job is to pass on information to other girls. we want to provide brochures in a language that can be understood so it doesn’t get thrown away.”

Paul Warambo, a recent masters graduate in the Kiswahili language living in Nairobi said: “The health translators training has come at a time when the country urgently needs translators in every sector, but especially in the health sector where little information is available in languages that can be understood by the majority of Kenyans.”

TWB is working on an even more ambitious project with Wikipedia. The aim is to take Wikipedia entries on the most important health topics, turn them into simple English and then translate them into as many languages as possible. The articles will then be accessible for free on mobile phones through new agreements betweek Wikimedia, which runs Wikipedia, and telecoms operators. A number of Wikipedia articles covering dengue fever, Aids, malaria, cholera and tuberculosis are awaiting translation from TWB’s army of volunteers.

The group has about 2,000 translators, who have passed its translation tests. Indian languages are well served but Africa is a big gap, with only about 15 of TWB’s translators able to deal with African languages. Africa has more than 2,000 different languages, such as Amharic, Swahili and Berber, spread across six major language families. Nigeria alone has more than 500 tongues spoken within its borders.

Until the 2010 Haiti earthquake, TWB had limited reach. but the crisis revealed not only the need for translations from thousands of aid groups that need humanitarian translations but also a critical mass of translators willing to help.

So the group created an online platform to bring the two communities together. last year, ProZ.com, the world’s largest translator organisation, created an automated translation centre for TWB so it could broaden its reach. Approved NGOs can now post translation projects such as field reports, treatment protocols and websites. Alerts then go out to the translators in those language pairs. those who are interested in the work of that particular NGO will take on a project, translate it, and return it to the platform for delivery. most of the projects are picked up within 15 minutes.

Translators without Borders can easily handle projects for 100 non-profits at a time, but as its volunteer community grows, so does its capacity. Over the years, it has donated almost $3m in translation services, which means that money went towards medical supplies, vaccines, rehydration kits and more.

“We are working to build a world where knowledge doesn’t have borders,” Thicke said. “With technology, and cellphone penetration in Africa, we have the potential to spread knowledge, but no one is talking about how people are getting information even if they are connected. People die not just of disease but from a lack of knowledge on how to avoid getting sick.”

Can you list any, and possible remedies?

symptoms of alleriges-

1) red rashes on the body and they are dead itchy
need to bring to vet and applied med, can also apply powder to relieve the itch meanwhile.

2) vomitting
3) diarrhoea

need to send to the vet and get a jab to stop both.

our Westy used to smell bad, when her allergies were bothering her
we took her to the vet

what are the sighs of cholera??

A month ago my husband asked me to rub his legs as he said cramps were really hurting him, he also said that he had diarrhoea.my husband has Diabetes and he thought it his pills that were making him go to the toilet so much. I was about to massage his legs when I noticed his coloring had changed he was greyish and he was in absolute pain, both cramps and stomach.I immediately rang for an ambulance on arrival to the Hospital he needed the toilet but as it had to be recorded he was placed on a commode, he lost 9 litres the first time then 11 litres and it just went on and on.No one knew what he had at the time, it was'nt until 3 days later that they told us that it was cholera and also told us that this sickness has never been seen in New Zealand. No we had not been outside of our country either.

Main one is diarrhoea. and make no mistake, this is serious diarrhoea. You basically won't be doing anything else and it'll feel like you're dumping water out more than anything else ("rice-water stool").
Because of all the diarrhoea, patients tend to be pretty dehydrated, which is what kills most of the victims. Patients may also experience increased pulse, decreased blood pressure, dry skin, fever and vomiting.

Not really a problem in developed countries, but the best treatment is rehydration with water with some sugar and salt in it.

"Symptoms include rapid dehydration, rapid pulse, dry skin, tiredness, abdominal cramps, nausea, and vomiting."

Nairobi — was 2010 a healthy or healthier year for you? Over the last 12 months, the health sector has been vibrant with the goal of leading Kenya to becoming a healthier nation.

At least 60 cholera deaths and over 3,000 suspected cases were reported in the first six months of 2010, raising fears of an epidemic due to poor sanitation and heavy rains.

Although the number was smaller than the 86 reported in the same period in 2009, it brought into focus the twin urban challenges of poor sanitation and hygiene and water and air pollution.

Most of the cholera cases were reported in slums where contamination of water and food could have been caused by uncollected garbage.

And with almost 90 per cent of all child deaths attributable to just conditions: neonatal causes, pneumonia, diarrhoea, malaria, measles, and HIV/Aids, Kenya could be on the right track to achieving Millennium Development Goal number four, aimed at cutting mortality by two-thirds by 2015.

The price of anti-malaria drugs was made affordable. with the cost of an adult’s dosage at Sh40 and that of a child at Sh10, the move was expected to provide drugs at the nearest chemist or health facility, curbing incidences of drug resistance.

But pharmacies sampled by the Nation from Nairobi, Mombasa, Naivasha and Meru were found selling the drugs at inflated prices of between Sh50 and Sh240 instead of the recommended Sh40 for an adult’s dosage.

Close to 300,000 children below five years old in western Kenya underwent polio vaccination, according to the Ministry of Public Health after neighbouring Uganda’s Bugiri District reported a polio case.

Known as a contagious viral disease that can lead to death, polio shows no symptoms in 95 per cent of those infected, thus the alarm by health authorities in the two countries.

An ambitious plan to treat diarrhoea among children less than five years was launched with parents administering early home treatment.

The guidelines are expected to reduce by half deaths due to diarrhoea in this age group by 2013. the health sector hosted a high profile politician whose condition was on the lips of most Kenyans before he gave details.

Prime Minister Raila Odinga was taken ill and his condition was widely discussed before he ended speculation with a detailed account.

Mr Odinga, who instructed his staff and doctors to provide public and regular updates, recounted how his condition was initially diagnosed to be malaria before other tests confirmed he was suffering from pressure on the brain, a condition known as chronic subdural haematoma.

September this year saw a continental call lodged by health specialists to find a lasting solution to the surge in diabetes cases in Africa.

Kenya is no exception, with fears that lifestyle diseases like heart failure and diabetes could overwhelm the health system if not tackled early.

In April Public Health minister Beth Mugo raised the alarm that lifestyle diseases could account for higher death rates than malaria, TB and Aids combined.

She launched a national diabetes strategy to reduce the cost of managing the disease and appealed to healthcare providers to reduce the cost of treatment.

Health experts further raised the alarm that city children were eating themselves to death. Poor diet, smoking, alcohol and unsafe sex were identified as leading vices.

And as Kenya joined the rest in marking World Aids Day, the government was challenged to employ a more aggressive approach to reach high risk infection groups.

National Aids/STI Control Programme head Nicholas Muraguri said his organisation was identifying risk groups and rolling out prevention programmes.

The year 2010 also exposed a syndicate trafficking in human body parts after two mortuary attendants were arrested with male genitals suspected to have been chopped off a body at the mortuary.

Brews suspected to be laced with methanol killed more than 40 Kenyans in separate incidents in Kibera and Shauri Moyo in 2010.

Reports also indicate that the pneumonia vaccine could soon cost as little as Sh12, a massive drop from Sh4,000 today, if studies being carried out in Kilifi and Thika in Kenya, as well as in the Gambia, prove successful.

Pneumonia is a major cause of death worldwide, especially among children, with around 16,400 Kenyans dying each year from the disease.

As Kenya welcomes 2011, the government may need to be more aggressive in its health programmes if it intends to meet the four-year-timeline of the MDG goals.

More News on allAfrica.com AllAfrica – all the Time

I've been put on methotrexate and sulphasalazine for my crohn's symptoms, a week ago, I've had diarrhoea and sickness for almost a year, it got to the point i couldn't cope with feeling ill, drained and weak any longer. I've been told it will take at least 3 weeks to start working, but after a week I already feel a bit better, it makes me dizzy the new meds, but somehow my 'output' is suddenly thicker (I have a stoma), can it be they are working so soon? I'm also on prednisolone and have been for over a month, but so far have only stopped the arthritic pains, the bowels stayed the same

it could be working or it could be placebo symptoms anyway i hope this works out for you and that it helps your co -worker understand the disease good luck and god speed

Posted on: Thursday, 2 December 2010, 15:22 CST

Post-traumatic stress in Crohn’s disease and its association with disease activity

The inflammatory bowel disorder Crohn’s disease produces its own variant of post traumatic stress (PTSD), indicates research published online in Frontline Gastroenterology.

PTSD creates a vicious circle by worsening the Crohn’s symptoms, indicates the study.

Crohn’s disease is incurable and can potentially affect the entire digestive tract, producing severe pain and diarrhoea. It is particularly common in Northern Europe, including the UK, and North America.

Its precise cause is not known, but its unpredictability makes it difficult to treat, and treatment is itself expensive, exhausting, and onerous, and carries its own risk of complications, say the authors.

The researchers tracked the health and psychological wellbeing of almost 600 adults over a period of 18 months. All of them had been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease and lived in various different locations in Switzerland.

At the start of the study, each patient’s mental health was assessed using a 17-item validated PTSD scale, which scores the degree of fear, suffering and impaired quality of life associated with PTSD from 0 to 51.

A score of 15 or more points is suggestive of post traumatic stress disorder, and almost one in five (19%) of the patients achieved this score.

The worsening of symptoms was then monitored during the subsequent 18 months to see if there was any link with the scores and a diagnosis of PSTD.

The results showed that those individuals with PSTD were more than four times as likely to experience worsening symptoms as those who scored below this threshold, and more than 13 times as likely to do so as those scoring zero.

Post traumatic stress occurs in response to traumatic experiences, and is typically manifest in recurring dreams/thoughts, avoidance tactics, irritability and sleeping difficulties.

It is normally associated with violence, emergency situations and natural disasters, but increasingly, research indicates that particular illnesses, such as cancer and HIV infection, plus the diagnostic and treatment procedures that accompany them, also take a hefty emotional toll, say the authors.

They add that over the long term, post traumatic stress permanently changes the body’s hormonal and immune responses, so making the sufferer potentially more prone to serious ill health.

"in most cases patients avoid talking about cures which remind them of having the disease…such behaviour may unwillingly be encouraged by the usual shortness of consultation time and unfamiliarity of [gut specialists] in dealing with the psychological needs of their patients," warn the authors.

Crohn’s disease can’t be cured, but PTSD can, and doctors should be alert to the psychological fall-out and refer patients for appropriate therapy, they suggest.

• BMJ-British Medical Journal
• Frontline Gastroenterology

More News in this Category