Dr. Paul Thistle - His HIV Story

Dr. Paul Thistle was born and raised in Toronto.  After completion of his specialist training in ob/gyn in 1992 he was recruited by the Salvation Army to serve at Howard Mission Hospital in the rural Zimbabwean villages of Chiweshe, 10,000 miles away from his home town.  In 2012, he relocated to Karanda Mission Hospital in the Mt. Darwin district.  Dr. Thistle began his overseas career at the height of the AIDS pandemic and the onset of the economic downturn in Zimbabwe.  Hospitals were overcrowded with the sick and dying of HIV/AIDS.  The advent of life saving HIV drugs would come 10 years later to Africa than to North America.  It was a human tragedy.  Twenty-two years later, Dr. Thistle can testify that perseverance does pay.  In the last two decades there has been a rapid expansion of programs and services in Zimbabwe to win the war on HIV.  This could not have been done without the coordination and resources of local, national and international partners, including Rotary.

 

At Howard Hospital, there was a demonstrated decline in HIV prevalence in the antenatal clinic from 27.5% in 1999 to 5.9% in 2012.  This was lower than the Zimbabwean national figure of 13.9% at the time.  Throughout Zimbabwe HIV remains the number one burden of illness where prevalence hovers at 15%.  For every two people who initiate ART (antiretroviral medication), there are five (5) new HIV infections.  The war on AIDS, as Yogi Berra would have said, ain't over til it's over.

 

In the face of increasing demands for HIV treatment and care and scarce human and physical resources, mission hospital doors in Zimbabwe have remained open primarily due to its grassroots network of supports.  In Zimbabwe, health care spending is $20 per person each year.  In Canada it is nearly $6,000.  A big part of this scene was played by Canadians, Rotarians included.  Their awareness, their advocacy bridged the gaps in the provision of essential health care services at Howard Hospital and now at Karanda, allowing hospitals to remain a beacon of hope in a difficult operating environment.

 

Karanda is a 150 bed hospital, with currently 3 doctors and 40 nurses.  75,000 patients are treated annually from the district of 250,000 people and beyond, from across Zimbabwe and neighbouring Mozambique.  There are 2,000 babies born each year and 4,000 surgeries per annum.  Most in the community are small scale subsistence farmers.  Besides medical work there is a primary school for the children and community programs such as HIV/AIDS outreach, tuberculosis screening and treatment, farming education, livestock rearing and orphan support.  Karanda currently has 1,200 people on lifesaving antiretroviral therapy and supervise 12,000 decentralized to the neighbouring rural health clinics, a hospital without walls.  In Zimbabwe, doctors such as Dr. Thistle do the best they can with what they have, where they are and work and pray for a better tomorrow.  As one person, Dr. Thistle may not be changing the world, but he can change the world of one person and together with the support of Rotary Clubs across Canada and abroad, the effort has been multiplied tens of thousands of times each year.  At Karanda Hospital there's fulfillment in the little tasks of each day -- a mother saved in childbirth, a malnourished infant restored to health, an adult living with HIV supported on positive living.

 

Thank you Rotary.