A doctor has shared her experiences of bringing medical aid to marginalised people around the world.
Abby Best from Crosby studied at medicine at Liverpool University before discovering a passion for global health while completing her masters degree.
From Guinea Bissau to Greece, Abby has worked to provide medical aid, improve research into Malaria, and most importantly to help people.
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Abby told the ECHO: “ My masters at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine gave me such a new perspective on the world. I have loved travelling but it has also been difficult at times and I think going to low-resource countries can really put into perspective how different people's lives can be.”
While working out in Cameroon, Abby said a man in his early 20s passed away while waiting to be seen by a doctor. He had died of an abscess, something that is easily treatable in the UK.
The 31-year-old said: “This man had come in about five times and the abscess was getting bigger and bigger and pressing on his neck. It was a ticking time bomb and he died in the waiting room from a massive bleed out.
“There was nothing anyone could have done at that moment but it was preventable and that happens all the time. Just to see that right in front of you, was a moment you can’t forget. It shows how big the health inequalities are globally.”
However, for Abby, the most profound experience in her medical career happened a little closer to home. While working in Liverpool, she was asked to check on a refugee who had escaped from Eritrea.
She said: “He had two choices when leaving the country to go through the Sahara Desert or through the Middle East. Eritrea has a large Christian community and he went through the Middle East but was captured and tortured and he had made it all the way to Liverpool.
“He decided to end his life despite having made it to his final destination. I think he was just so scarred from what had happened to him."
Abby is now embarking on a three-month medical expedition to the Himalayas in April. She will be going to the Himachal Pradesh and Dharamshala regions of India. The expedition aims to reach people in the Himalayas who do not have access to basic primary health care.
Abby said: "Ultimately it’s a sense of adventure and combining travelling with medicine is a dream for me but once you get out there and see the disparity in health standards around the world, you want to do your part in reducing some of those inequities."
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