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 Media Room - Canadians Making a Difference in the World - Pharmacist Marnie Mitchel of Deep River, Ontario, dispenses hope in Lesotho
Pharmacist Marnie Mitchel of Deep River, Ontario, dispenses hope in Lesotho
At the bustling Tšepong Clinic in the southern African country of Lesotho, Marnie Mitchel dispenses antiretrovirals—lifesaving drugs known as ARVs—for people living with HIV/AIDS. She’s always busy, but when patients arrive at her office, she—quite literally—has time for them.
“People need to take their pills exactly 12 hours apart,” Marnie says. “I encourage them to set up a schedule they can follow. I also give out clocks, which UNICEF donated to us, so farmers can keep track of time when they’re working in the fields.”
Almost one out of three adults between the ages of 15 and 49 in this tiny, landlocked country is living with HIV/AIDS. In 2004 the Government of Lesotho opened HIV test centres and pledged to make ARVs cheaper for the poor.
After hearing from the United Nation’s Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, Stephen Lewis, about how HIV/AIDS has decimated the medical profession in Lesotho, the Ontario Hospital Association offered to send a team of Canadian health professionals, including Marnie, a pharmacist with a masters degree in public health, to Tšepong, which means “place of hope.” In December 2004, when the Canadian team arrived at Tšepong Clinic, 116 patients were registered; by February 2006 the clinic was treating 3,500 patients, and 1,200 had been prescribed ARVs.
Before these drugs became available, HIV/AIDS was a death sentence. With ARVs, patients can now live with the disease. “Not everyone needs ARVs,” Marnie explains.
“We monitor patients closely, and when their CD4 count (this measures the strength of their immune system) drops below 200, we start them on treatment.”
In February 2006, Marnie signed on for another year at Tšepong. “It’s an honour for me,” she says. “People are getting better! They arrive in wheelchairs, and three months later, they’re walking out the door. Even better, we’re starting to see more people coming in when they’re not sick, so they never get to that stage.”
In addition to dispensing drugs and coaching patients, Marnie trains nurses to do HIV tests and provide antibiotics for other life-threatening illnesses. In fact, the 22 other clinics in Leribe district send staff to Tšepong for training. In this way, Canadians are paving the way for all 23 clinics to dispense ARVs—and hope.
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