WiRED International Salutes Kenya Clinician Brian Obonyo

BY ALLISON KOZICHAROW AND BERNICE BORN

Brian Obonyo is a registered clinical officer who works for the KUAP-Pandipieri program center in Kisumu, Kenya. Brian and his colleagues seek to improve the health of some of the poorest and most underserved people of the world.

WiRED International recently received a report from Brian that illustrates how WiRED programs can be applied to impact the health of people living in low-resource communities.

WiRED offers many educational health modules targeted to medical professionals. Brian said, “I access the computer modules in WiRED’s virtual Learning Center to enable me to successfully manage my clients, particularly those living with HIV.” WiRED offers 15 modules addressing various aspects of HIV/AIDS.

The WiRED e-library also contains a large number of modules aimed at helping grassroots communities understand basic health, including prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases and chronic conditions. Brian stated, “As part of my daily program of treating people, I have found the WiRED database to be a great help in making correct diagnoses of various chronic and infectious medical conditions such as tuberculosis, sexually transmitted diseases, diabetes and hypertension. The WiRED modules I have found most useful with clients are Family Planning, Anatomy, HIV/AIDS, and Diabetes.”

Brian said, “All this information I acquired from WiRED. Learning is an ongoing process, and WiRED resources are my point of reference, especially in the face of challenging health conditions. For example, we screen all the women we see of reproductive age for cervical cancer. Knowing signs and symptoms of cervical and also prostate cancer allows me personally to find appropriate treatments for my vulnerable immune-suppressed patients.”

WiRED’s modules are designed to engage groups in discussions about health in order to involve entire communities in health awareness and concerns. Group sessions help participants gain a wider understanding of health matters, which leads to community immunity. This means that when a sufficient number of people within a community are educated about medical conditions and healthy practices, the whole community becomes better able to recognize signs and symptoms, understand treatments and practice appropriate measures of prevention.

Brian reported, “Using information from WiRED, I hold daily health talks with patients before beginning the clinical process. In these sessions people learn about nutrition, personal hygiene, infection prevention and adherence to medications.” All of WiRED’s modules are carefully written and updated by physicians and reviewed by medical experts, so information is accurate and stays current.

On the first Friday of each month the WiRED center holds an adolescent clinic. Brian said, “We group the children by ages and let them share ideas and learn from each other. We always take them to the computer room where, under the guidance of the ever-supportive WiRED staff, the young people can study WiRED modules on different kinds of health conditions.”

The WiRED resource center operates eight hours a day Monday through Friday. The staff continues to learn more about disease and health even after hours. Brian reported, “Following each day’s work treating patients, my colleagues and I stay at the center. We choose a WiRED module to read through together and then compete in answering the questions to see who will be the champion.” WiRED’s modules offer health material and then reinforce the content with interactive quizzes before proceeding to the next set of key points. This approach not only highlights the material but also engages the audience in health information and stimulates group interest among medical professionals and grassroots audiences alike.

Brian concluded, “At the beginning of August I hope to enroll at the local university to study public health. I want to learn about disease prevention and control for the most common communicable diseases in Sub-Saharan Africa. Public health is my passion. I believe my dreams can come true. Thank you, WiRED.”