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| Banda Aaron manages an ICN/Merck Mobile Library in Zambia |
Many African nations lack a critical tool in the fight against AIDS, malaria
and other diseases: nurses.
"In our country, we should have more than 22,000 nurses, but there are only 9,000 now," says Banda Aaron, a teacher at the Lewanika School of Nursing in Mongu, Zambia. This shortage is particularly problematic because nurses are the primary health care providers for the vast majority of Zambians. Rural areas are the hardest hit; Mr. Aaron says that a single nurse can be the only health resource for as many as 6,000 people.
For these already overextended nurses, fast easy-to-access, up-to-date information to help them make treatment decisions is vital; in many cases, it can mean the difference between life and death for their patients. But in Zambia and other African nations, information isn’t always readily available – particularly in rural and remote areas.
To address this problem, in 2002, The Merck Company Foundation and ICN created the ICN/ Merck Mobile Library Project, aiming to provide libraries of health education and reference materials in Africa. To date, the project has delivered more that 175 libraries to nurse working in remote areas of 17 African countries.
Mr. Aaron, 33, manages one of the Nursing Libraries for Refugee Health in Zambia. The library is located in the nursing school library, which also serves the adjacent Lewanika Hospital. As a library manager he is actively involved in managing and promoting the use of the library. He knows the books inside out, and over the years has given nurses an assortment of much-needed information, from guidelines for treating eye infectious to managing HIV. Information from the library books also played a key role in helping Lewanika Hospital staff develop a strict protocol for managing eclampsia, one of the most serious pregnancy complications that can result in death for both mother and child if left untreated.
"Quality health care begins with access to quality health care information," says Judith Oulton, chief executive officer of ICN. "An informed nursing profession unlocks the door to prevention and treatment for so many people who have gone without and provides sustainable improvement in health care delivery."
Mr. Aaron, who works with nurses every day, says that information form the libraries make their tough jobs somewhat easier. "They are so thankful for the libraries," he says. "For nurses, this program means knowledge empowerment."
For more information on the ICN/Merck Mobile Libraries, click here.
The Merck Company Foundation, a U.S.-based, private charitable foundation, was established in 1957 by the global research-driven pharmaceutical company Merck & Co., Inc. The Foundation is funded entirely by Merck and is its chief source of funding support to qualified non-profit, charitable organizations. The mission of the Foundation is to support organizations and innovative programs that: expand access to medicines, vaccines and quality health care; build capacity in the biomedical and health sciences; promote environments that encourage innovation, economic growth and development in a fair and ethical context; and support communities where Merck has a major presence. For more information, visit www.merckcompanyfoundation.org.
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