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A dilemma

A fork in the road
3.1
Health Access in Conflict Once again Doctor Samoe finds himself in a deadlock.. but this time with his own staff, nurse Aisha and Nurse Ann. Just then they hear a commotion from the street below. Nurse Ann is first to the window. - Yes it’s our so-called hospital guards again. - Look, can we just get on with it? - I don’t think bringing the armed soldiers with us to these closed villages is a good idea. What might happen? - Ok, we’ve been talking for 20 minutes, and still no ideas? I’m very busy, so let’s try to wrap up! We’re five months behind on the vaccination schedule in the closed villages! Pertussis is now reported in our area. What can we do?
50.8
If you want to go to your people in those villages without army escort, then be my guest! Anyway, most of our nurses can’t even negotiate in your language for entry to the villages. - Well, that’s the problem right there, isn’t it? This conflict wouldn’t have happened if there had been some respect and sharing from the beginning! Let’s start with one of the closed villages. The one where we have good relations with the mosque. May I approach the Imam on the vaccination issue, and ask his advice? - Interesting. What could he do? He is respected by the villagers and has helped in previous vaccination campaigns for all villages. Not just the muslim ones. Let’s see what he suggests.

The healthcare team is faced with difficult choices as they try to deliver services to the community in the presence of violent conflict.

Do you agree with Nurse Aisha or with Nurse Ann? Should the healthcare team take a military escort to go into the community? What are the pros and cons of doing so?

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Global Health, Conflict and Violence

Created by
FutureLearn - Learning For Life

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