The CIWEC Clinic Newsletter – July 2014

Greetings to all during this rainy season in Nepal when clean air and lush vegetation more than make up for the incessant rain and hot weather. We have some important announcements for the community that we serve.

CIWEC Pokhara

We are very pleased to let you know that opening of our Pokhara brach will be a reality soon and we plan to have it up and running as of September 1st 2014. We will be very centrally located in Lakeside Pokhara (last house on the right side on Meera Hotel Lane, formerly Iceland Hotel), have a fully functioning Laboratory, pharmacy, radiology and will be staffed by experienced doctors and nurses who will provide service 24 hours a day.

Blood Donation Drive

We have a blood donation drive at CIWEC on July 23rd from 9am to 12 noon and if you would like to donate blood, please phone the clinic and sign up. Blood is always in short supply at the Central Blood Bank and you will feel good having helped someone with your blood. Red cells have a life of 120 days and one can donate blood every 3- 4 months as your red cells take that much time to regenerate.

Family Planning Service

We are now able to offer a full range of family planning services including Mirena IUS and progesterone only pills in addition to others.

Screening Physical examination has always been available at the clinic with our senior doctors unlike in other facilities where junior doctors are assigned the task of doing Physical Examination and interpretation of test results.  There is a basic and a comprehensive package available or you have the option to customize what you want to get done after discussion with your doctor. During this time we could also review if you needed any vaccines.  We recommend that persons pre-book for a physical examination by phoning the clinic or writing to bookings@ciwec-clinic.com and coming in after an overnight fast.

New Services

We will be bringing upper endoscopy services soon since machine has been purchased already and we will be setting it up in a week or so.

Health Topics

  1.  This is the peak season for the parasite called Cyclospora which causes waxing and waning symptoms with diarrhea, loss of appetite and fatigue. Untreated, it can last up to 12 weeks. The parasite is transmitted through the fecal-oral route and is not killed by Iodine and Chlorine. We therefore recommend not to eat salads during the months of June, July and early August to avoid Cyclospora infections. For details, please visit the CIWEC Clinic website link: https://ciwechospital.com/health-information/all-about-cyclospora/
  2. Japanese Encephalitis will soon start to make headlines in India and Nepal and we will have a rush of persons wanting to get the Japanese encephalitis vaccine. At CIWEC, we stock the Chengdu SA 14-14-2 vaccine which is a live vaccine, very well tolerated  and single shot can be protective for 5 years. We do not stock Ixiaro which is what is available in most Western countries. For details, please visit the web page: https://ciwechospital.com/health-information/japanese-encephalitis-update/
  3.  Health Information handouts

We provide informational handouts on various topics e.g. malaria, diarrhea, dengue, vaccines etc and update them as new information becomes available. These are available on the website under “Health Information” and in paper form in our waiting room.  Most of these have recently been updated. Please use the website to get information and write to us if you have any questions. We also have a facebook page and people can post queries.

Other News

CIWEC supported and helped to organize the 2nd Nepal Travel and Tropical Medicine Conference held in March 2014 in Kathmandu that was attended by 160 Nepali and foreign doctors and nurses.

Dr Prativa Pandey and Dr Rashila Pradhan attended the 10th Asia Pacific Travel Health Conference in Vietnam in May 2014 where Dr Prativa Pandey and Dr David Shlim conducted a session on Traveler’s Diarrhea.

In July of this year, Dr Prativa Pandey was invited as a Travel Medicine Specialist to attend a  workshop organized by the  World Health Orgnization (WHO) and the Chinese General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) held in Ningbo, China. What we learnt is that while Western Pacific region is doing well, South East Asia region including Nepal is behind in implementing the WHO’s International Health Regulations to prevent the spread of diseases of  international concern.

In August of this year, 3 of CIWEC nurses will be sitting for the Certificate of Travel Health examination to be held in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, USA. We wish our nurses all the best for the examination.

Have a great summer! –  The CIWEC Team