tropical diseases

I spent the afternoon at the hospital because a friend has malaria and because of her symptoms there was some fear she had meningitis.  The hospital was not good.  At all. They lost her tests and didn't keep adequate records so when one doctor came to relieve another, they kind of had no idea who she was or what she was there for.  I tried asking a nurse for help but I had to really push her for any sort of information or attention and then she got frustrated and short with me.  I kind of understood her attitude because getting malaria here is probably as common as getting the flu at home and so to these people it is just not the huge deal that it sounds like at home and they don't want to deal with some pushy person.  But the disorganization was still frustrating and just kind of sad.    The resources they had to work with were very minimal.  It got me thinking how we value human life differently.   It makes me appreciate all the more all the various vaccines I got in New York and how fortunate I am to have access to the anti-malaria medication I take every morning, the pharmacy in my closet I brought from New York, and the mosquito net on my bed.   I want everyone to have access to these things.