If you’re in the Bay Area, please join Hesperian and Dr. Julie Cliff for a wide-ranging conversation about health in Mozambique on Wednesday, September 27th at 6:30pm.
Dr. Cliff has lived and worked in Mozambique for over 40 years, leading the epidemiology department at the Ministry of Health and the infectious diseases unit at Maputo Central Hospital, Mozambique’s primary teaching hospital. Some of her work has focused on the elimination of konzo, a paralytic disease closely tied to poverty. Konzo afflicts people who have nothing to eat but bitter cassava, a drought-resistant crop that people in many parts of Africa rely on. Without fertile land, money to buy diverse crops, or resources to process the cassava to reduce its toxicity, people – especially women & children who have the least varied diets – are at high risk for contracting Konzo. Until the underlying causes of poverty, hunger, and inequality are addressed, konzo will persist. To learn more about konzo in Mozambique, see Dr. Cliff’s essay, “An Orphan Disease in Mozambique”, in The Practice of International Health.
Where There Is No Doctor in Portuguese was reconceived and translated by Julie and her team for Mozambique and other Portuguese-speaking countries in Africa. The Portuguese Where There Is No Doctor addresses the underlying causes of poor health adapted to the realities of Mozambique. So it includes crucial information about how to prepare bitter cassava safely to prevent konzo, techniques for supporting people who suffer from paralysis, and other health issues central to the lives of Mozambicans.
Julie also worked with the Mozambican water and sanitation NGO Estamos to complete the Portuguese edition of A Community Guide to Environmental Health as well as many of the translated chapters of the New Where There Is No Doctor, available in Hesperian’s HealthWiki.
Visit Hesperian’s offices on Wednesday, September 27th at 6:30pm to learn about Dr. Cliff’s work supporting community health in Mozambique. Space is limited, so please RSVP today to secure your spot.