CAUSE MARKETING
Mission Abort : It ’ s Time For Lasting Sustainable Healthcare Solutions
By Emily Manjeru
Happy belated New year !
Before I begin , sharing this column with you has been the most consistent , heartfelt thing I have ever done outside of work and family . ( I am still yet to consistently hit the gym haha !). My heartfelt gratitude to William and the entire Marketing Africa Magazine team for supporting me . I am also honored to contribute alongside giants of the industry , and to you dear reader , thank you for your positive feedback . It ’ s encouraging . That , however , is not the kind of mission I ’ m talking about in this article .
Picture this , you ’ re six years old , born with a congenital condition . Life continues , but with difficulty . The only way to treat it is surgery . The adults around you are whispering loudly about you and pointing in the direction of a hospital . They are speaking hope to one another , sometimes even placing a hand on your head to bless you , sometimes wailing to God almighty , a loud prayer that ends with “ It is well . God is in control ”. Your guardian or parent is excited , keeps darting their eyes between you and their fellow prayer warriors . You read the anxiety hiding behind their hopeful faces .
Cometh the long-awaited day they don ’ t tell you directly , but excitement is in the air as you get ready to go to hospital . Just as you slip on your shoes , they are speaking in hushed tones about a Covid . They shoot another look again at you , this time it is disappointment . You ’ re heartbroken that it ’ s not happening , again . You missed the previous round several months back because your guardians mixed up the dates and the foreigners left just before you arrived at the hospital . That experience and being turned away another time builds into contempt and anger . You question this God you prayed to that lost control of your appointments . The older you grow , the more you ’ re used to being with the congenital condition , but the bullying , the incessant name-calling is eating at your confidence and the impatience at home is palpable . You fight back tears and the dark , heavy thought that you could be cursed .
Covid was a monster that paralyzed everything , it still is . According to the World Health Organization , as of 24 January 2023 , 664,618,938 people were confirmed to have contracted Covid-19 , including 6,722,949 deaths . Without belaboring the negatives , some good came out of this crisis , driven by organizational creativity , innovation and adaptability .
For one , the mission model of healthcare proved unsustainable . Going months on end waiting for medical experts from abroad to come through was undesirable . Some missionary organizations may have collapsed during the pandemic . Where did that leave the vulnerable groups ? More exposed , more dependent , more affected .
It feels great to work at Smile Train and see the organization stand the test of the pandemic . The organization models itself around teaching a man to fish . The catastrophic effects of the pandemic created a dent in healthcare on ground , but because of the power of partnerships , and investment in local capacity building , patients could still receive comprehensive cleft care . When surgery halted , nutrition support and speech therapy services were still getting to the patient .
There were significant policy advancements and dynamic shifts not only in service delivery and accountability but also intentional strengthening of healthcare systems . For instance , the World Federation of the Societies of Anaesthesiologists , in collaboration with Lifebox and Smile Train developed the Covid-19 Surgical Patient Checklist to safeguard surgical teams and enhance the safety of patients from infection during the Covid-19 pandemic . The use of the patient safety checklist was born in the spirit of the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist , to promote teamwork and communication in the operating room .
Another emerging trend of collaboration came up as part of the success . Letting the missionaries lead from a far was like killing a snake with a distant stick . The tide shifted to identifying the organizations on ground that had the competency and capacity and investing in them , then having a zoom meeting to keep tabs .
Innovation was one of the greatest successes of the pandemic that trampled the mission model . There was innovation not just in technology but in administration of healthcare through telemedicine and local solutions . Smile Train was able to impact over 27000 beneficiaries between 2020- 2021 in telemedicine .
As we get into the new year , I encourage more collaborations for like-minded organizations . This is not because a pandemic may strike , but because it ’ s the sustainable thing to do . Hardly Mission Impossible , right ?
What is in store in 2023 for you ? I glean towards Mahatma Ganghi ’ s quote : “ to find yourself you must lose yourself in the service of others ”. I wish you a mission-driven life . In there lies true fulfillment .
Emily Manjeru is the Communications Manager for Africa at Smile Train . You can commune with her via mail at : Emilymanjeru @ gmail . com .
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