Intravenous supplies in Africa

October 18, 2008

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The Washington Post highlights the perils of poor access to emergency obstetric care and limited health-care resources to the lives of women and children.

Focusing on the African nation of Sierra Leone, the Post published highlights the death of women during childbirth and how this was directly related to the environment. Perhaps most strikingly, the article reports that at dilapidated city hospitals in Freetown, patients are expected to provide their own medical supplies such as: intravenous fluids and bags, catheters, and rubber gloves.

Warning: the following link contains graphic images and interviews of woman and infants some of whom die during childbirth.