Student Engagement Resources
Honduras- Honduras
Case Study: Gricel Ferrera
Healthcare in Honduras
Both the quality and access to
healthcare in Honduras are directly
tied to income levels. In a country
ranked 121 out of 187 on the United
Nations’ Human Development Index
(2011), healthcare is extremely limited
for both the urban and rural poor.
Since it’s creation in 1959, the
National Public Health system (IHHS) in Honduras has been very slow to
grow. For a current population of almost 8 million, IHHS has constructed 43
CESAMOS and 27 CESARES in the entire country. CESAMOS are larger, more
comprehensive health centers that usually have a full-time physician during
working hours and occasionally a dentist; CESARES are smaller health
centers that usually have one or two nurses on staff during working hours
but with very little medical equipment and/or supplies. Government clinics
typically lack sufficient personnel, equipment and medicine.
All medicine for these health centers is supplied by the Secretary of Health,
however there is a set amount and frequency of medicine allotments
regardless of specific geographic or temporal needs and shipments often
arrive late when they arrive. In 2011, there was less than 1 hospital bed in
the entire country for every 1,000 people, taking all public, private, and
NGO hospitals into account.
In a country where public healthcare is so limited and the majority of
people cannot afford private care, non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
like Global Brigades fill a huge need by supplying medical care in the form
of mobile clinics (“brigades”) to thousands of people who might otherwise
have no regular access.
Student Engagement Resources
Honduras- Health
Case Study: Gricel Ferrera
Meet Gricel
Gricel lives in the community of La
Concepción, El Paraiso, Honduras.
La Concepción is a small
community of 165 homes and 580
people, and fairly isolated from
main highways. Gricel’s family
runs a small pulperia (a small
store) out of their living room. At
15 years old, Gricel is still in
school, which is unique in a
community where many children
are unable to continue education
past grade six.
At a young age, Gricel was
diagnosed with a degenerative
disorder in both of her eyes called
keratoconus. This condition causes
the cornea to become coneshaped, which leads to distorted
vision, such as multiple images of
the same object and sensitivity to
light. If she does not receive
transplants for both of her
corneas, it is predicted that Gricel
will become completely blind by
the time she is 18 years old.
LA CONCEPCIÓN
Student Engagement Resources
Honduras- Health
Case Study: Gricel Ferrera
Background on La Concepcion
Though La Concepcion has a rural health center in the community that had
been closed and was reopened in March 2010, the clinic has limited
resources and the only place Gricel can receive the continuous testing,
treatment and contact lenses she needs is in Tegucigalpa, an all day
commute by bus. Her family does not own any cars of its own.
Socio-economics in La Concepcion
The average family income per month is estimated to be 1200 Lempiras,
which is approximately L560 (US $29.65) per person. Just one of the
treatments Gricel needed cost $2,000. To put that in perspective, it would
take Gricel’s family 5 ½ years of saving their entire income to save one eye.
Doctors predicted she would be blind within just four years.
Student Engagement Resources
Honduras- Health
Case Study: Gricel Ferrera
Global Brigades and Gricel
When she was 14, Gricel’s family first got in contact with the Patient
Referral team by sending a note about her condition with the Water
Brigades team in March 2012 to deliver to the organization.
The Referral team then visited Gricel and her family in their home to have a
preliminary consultation and to obtain more information regarding her
condition.
The PR program assists with necessary medical care that falls outside of the
scope of brigades and facilitates the entire process of administering this
care. The funding for each patient’s care comes from dedicated student
groups who wish to help patients they may have met while on their
brigade. Previous cases have included patients who needed long-term
medication, surgery, or a transplant.
The PR team opened a case for Gricel, and good news came to Gricel a lot
sooner than anticipated. On May 1st of 2012, Hospital Santa Lucia received
a cornea for another case of ours, which money had already been raised to
cover, but this patient decided to not follow through with his surgery. So
instead, two days later, Gricel was able to receive a cornea transplant for
her left eye. Gricel’s surgery was successful and she was brought back to
the hospital during the days
following her surgery to receive post-op care and examination.
Student Engagement Resources
Honduras- Honduras
Case Study: Gricel Ferrera
Gricel’s Status
Now 15, Gricel still needs intracorneal rings in her right eye. The Patient
Referral team is working to fundraise money for her case, but without
treatment, she will still lose sight in her right eye.
Due to budgetary constraint, the Patient Referral team can only have three
to four open cases at any time. Without the program, it would have been
impossible for Gricel to seek care. Each brigade sees approximately 900
patients who otherwise have little to no access to basic health care. Patient
Referral works to fill a further gap with access to more advanced care.
If you’d like to know more about the Patient Referral program, contact the
Medical Program at MDAdvising@globalbrigades.org.