FROM THE FIELD
Find out more about how Merlin is campaigning for health
workersThrough the stories of Jonathan Yala and Olga Yetikoua, the photographs document the reality of working in the Central African Republic, where maternal mortality rates have doubled
and 20 per cent of children die before their fifth birthday.Olga, a Nurse Supervisor working for Merlin in the remote Nana Gribizi District, said:“The Central African
Republic has gone backwards. We don’t even have the minimum level of health care anymore. I’ve spent most of my professional life in Bangui, the capital, cushioned
against reality. Coming here I realised just how neglected our health services, and health workers, are."In many developing countries, health workers can work long hours without regular pay
and with demanding case loads. In some areas, one health worker can shoulder the responsibility for up to 50,000 people. Those working in rural areas suffer the most, struggling to get vital drugs and
equipment and living miles from their family and a professional support network.Hands Up for Health Workers calls for funding to train additional staff needed and refresher training for those
already working. It also asks that health workers receive a regular living wage and incentives to work in remote or hostile environments.Carolyn Miller, Chief Executive of Merlin, said:“No community, let alone country, can hope to achieve social and economic development without enough skilled and motivated health workers. Merlin’s campaign will
shortly be focusing on the need to increase the number of trained midwives - to prevent the needless loss of millions of mothers and children in childbirth.â€The
photographs will be exhibited in partnership with St. Bride’s media church from 23 February to 6 March, weekdays, 9am â€" 6pm. Entry is free.
Find out more about our work in the Central
African Republic Help us save more lives: Please donate now
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
