World Malaria Day. Most days, you'll find me in the lab at the health center. It's the place where, after seeing one of our clinical officers, patients come for a variety of tests. I've seen TB smears, HIV tests, and even intestinal worms brought in for identification. But the majority of the cases we see are related to malaria. We go through hundreds of Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDTs) a month to test for malaria, and every week, 60-80% of those cases are positive. Uganda isn't alone. With more than 200 million cases and about a half million deaths in 2016 alone, malaria remains one of the world's most infectious diseases. In the effort to eradicate malaria, my own work may be in prevention, but the other side, testing and proper treatment, are just as important to save lives and prevent drug resistance. Whether we wear a white coat or not, we each have a role to play. As I filled the lab registers and read RDT results today, I found myself grateful again for the work and commitment of my staff and the chance to work with some of my favorite people in the lab. #worldmalariaday #malaria #stompoutmalaria #RDT #lab #uganda #peacecorps #peacecorpsuganda
















