The mission of The Spine Africa Project focuses on three objectives: the treatment of those afflicted with spinal conditions, the education of local medical personnel, and social change. Each of these three factors contributes individually to what seems to be an exclusively medical epidemic.
The health issue would seem to be the most important. Everyday the incidence of spine injuries in the Congo increases, yet the advancement of spine care at the local and national hospitals remains stagnant. The Panzi Hospital, the hospital of focus for The Spine Africa Project, remains in a state of disrepair. The recent focus of The Panzi Hospital has been gynecological surgeries due to the disturbingly high incidences of sexual violence against women. However, sexual violence is not the only issue plaguing this impoverished country. Physical injuries, specifically spine related injuries have begun to proliferate at a staggering rate and have been afflicting men, women and children. Without proper protocols in place the life expectancy of someone injured has been determined to be less than two years. This shortened life expectancy does not simply affect the ill but, instead, the entire family.
The culture in the Congo has long been a communal one and all members, including children, work to provide financially for the family. Men, who are not enlisted into the militias, traditionally work in the multi-national owned mines. Also, children as young as 7 also begin working in these mines. Due to the lack of organized workforces and enforceable labor laws, most mine workers work up to 18 hours a day without proper safety equipment and only a small break for one meal. With the absence of the men, women are forced to assume many of the manual labor tasks such as agriculture and the transportation of goods. With the lack of labor laws the rate of pay stays abysmal with many making only about $1 per hour. Their meager wages are compiled and the entire family attempts to suffice on the combined wages despite the inordinately high cost of living.
For men, the long hours of heavy lifting and falling objects in the mine are a major source of spine injuries. Proper equipment and policies are not used in these mines and the tremendous forces exerted to the body on a daily basis have exponentially increased the rate of disc degeneration and catastrophic injuries. For women, their risk is incredibly high due to the means in which they are transporting their goods. These women travel several miles on foot over constantly changing terrain with upward of 200lbs strapped to their upper backs. These packs can contain food, plants, water or any of the necessities that they are tasked to gather. This causes incredible amounts of pressure and force on both the cervical and lumbar spine and as you travel throughout the Congo you can see the majority of these women have a very evident slouch and are permanently hunched over. Children are also afflicted for several reasons including working conditions and the lack of pre-natal care. Obviously, the forces that are endured by a working child are detrimental due to the fact that their bones and joints are not fully developed and highly susceptible to injury. Children are often made to life heavy objects and work long hours whether they be in the mines or working in agriculture to help provide for the family. However, the most concerning issue for children is the lack in advancement in pre-natal care. Because of malnutrition of the mothers while pregnant, the prevalence of disease and the lack of pre-natal screening for deformities and illness. Tuberculosis is the major culprit of creating spinal deformities in children and because of the lack of immunization and screening, TB ravages the spines of children causing severe deformities.
This leads to the second part of The Spine Africa Project’s mission: education. Most local doctors are trained in gynecological procedures as some general orthopedic procedures; however no training exists to combat the complicated and abundant spine injuries those in the surrounding villages are suffering. In many instances, injuries are worsened by improper treatments and the application of modalities that are in direct conflict with the proper techniques.
Our goal is to educate these doctors and implement proper techniques for treating and addressing these issues. Dr. Richard A. Kaul and his team will be making several trips to the Congo throughout the next few years and treating patients using the latest and most effective American technologies. However, the job is not completed after they depart, rather, that is where education becomes the most important factor. While in the Congo it will be the doctor’s mission to teach these revolutionary procedures to the local doctors so that the work can continue even after Dr. Kaul and his team have departed.
However, this kind of education and awareness requires funding not only for the teaching but for the purchase of the necessary and up to date medical equipment required to perform these procedures safely. Sterilization and safety methods were a very great concern upon Dr. Kaul and Dr. Wood’s most recent visit. It is evident that the facility had not been adequately maintained and sanitary practices were not even to par with the lowest of American standards. Updating the conditions will be a major factor to improving the standard of living in the Congo.
