Students offer remedies for health care in Cape Town
Cindy Schwartz, WG'05
Issue date: 10/4/04 Section: News
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Since 2001, WHIVP has been working with Cape Town City Health and its Director, Dr. Ivan Toms, who is responsible for overseeing 118 clinics that serve 3.1 million people. Each clinic provides free medical care for any Cape Town resident, including vaccinations, emergency services, chronic care for patients with diabetes, asthma and other long-term conditions, as well as the treatment of everyday illnesses. In all, the system handles 5 million visits per year, completely free of charge to patients.
What's more is the staggering array of challenges facing Dr. Toms and the Cape Town health system. Take tuberculosis, a contagious bacterial disease that attacks the lungs: Cape Town is the TB capital of the world, averaging 533 cases per 100,000 people. In poor black areas, however, this number skyrockets to 1,300 per 100,000. HIV incidence is also alarmingly high, particularly in the informal settlements comprised of make-shift shacks constructed of whatever material is handy and free. In these areas, an estimated 28% of adults are HIV positive.
Participants felt that the chance to volunteer in Cape Town was a unique opportunity to see South Africa. "Having read about the political changes in South Africa for years, it was great to be able to experience the culture myself, not just as a tourist, but as someone who worked with and interacted with locals," WHIVP Co-Chair Terence Yap said. "The best part of the work we did out there was having the hands-on experience in the clinics of the townships, being able to work with staff as well as patients. You can't get that experience from reading books or watching TV."
While WHIVP's recent efforts have focused on Cape Town, the WHIVP program itself has been around since 1993. Open to students and alumni from Wharton's Health Care Management Department, the program takes on projects to improve health care services in developing countries. Past projects have been located in Guatemala, Cost Rica, and the Philippines.
WHIVP is made possible by the generous support of corporate and other sponsors. This year's sponsors included the Kaiser Foundation, Genentech, Cephalon, Medtronic, Marsh, and Microsoft. Donations included funds as well as equipment such as educational materials for teaching computer skills to clinic staff.