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09-09-2019 | Latest News , Africa , Health Care in Danger

Burkina Faso: Growing Violence Threatens Health Care

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Away from the world’s attention, Burkina Faso has been slipping into violence. In less than a year, the number of displaced has increased fivefold, from 50,000 last December, to 270,000 in August. As ever, the most vulnerable suffer most: the very young, and the very old.

When Alidou Sawadogo’s elderly mother fell ill, he faced a long and dangerous journey to get treatment for her.

“When she collapsed, a friend called me,” he explains. “By the time I arrived she was already unconscious. I decided to take her to the health center and luckily someone who had a motorcycle helped me. Because of the violence many people who are sick wait at home and die. Everyone is afraid of taking the road to the health center in Barsalogho.”

Across Burkina Faso, the rising insecurity has forced over a hundred health centers to close, or to limit their work. Half a million people now have little or no access to health care. Dedicated health workers, among them Dr Bertrand Dibli in Barsalogho, are struggling to meet the needs, and to stay safe themselves.

“This is one of the few health centers that isn’t closed,” he says. “We don’t have enough equipment. And the insecurity has caused huge anxiety among health workers. Even coming here to Barsalogho is a huge challenge because the route is so dangerous.”

The ICRC has been working to support Burkina Faso’s health professionals, with medical kits, and vaccination campaigns. During his visit to the country, ICRC President Peter Maurer expressed his concern at the multiple challenges facing Burkina Faso’s people.

“We are very concerned,” he said. “Very worried about the upsurge in violence, it’s a vicious circle that is trapping the civilian population between armed groups.”

“We also see,” Mr Maurer added, “that it is not only the violence that is affecting the country, it is also under development, and climate change. Together with the violence that is obstructing the health services, it’s an accumulation of factors.”

And so the ICRC – jointly with the Burkinabé Red Cross – is also delivering food to the displaced, and helping to improve access to water supplies. All of this, says nurse Jeanette Kientega, is desperately needed by a population uprooted by conflict, and denied access to basic health care.

“By the time they are able to get here, it is often too late” she says. “Sometimes we can help, but if they have already been ill a long time, it is difficult. We try to do what we can.”

Expectant mothers, new mothers, and the newborn are a priority. Salamata Oueadraogo made it to the health center in time to get the care she and her baby needed.

“The other health centers were closed, so I came here so I could be taken care of when the baby came. And, thank God, I was able to have my baby safely, here.”

Hopefully, with the support of Burkina Faso’s dedicated health workers, other mothers and babies will get the same lifesaving care. But for Burkina Faso’s people to enjoy real safety, health services and their staff must be respected.

KEY FACTS: ICRC in cooperation with the Burkinabé Red Cross

  • Health: The ICRC has provided medical kits to health facilities in the Sahel, East and North regions, benefitting more than 21,000 people. We also supported a vaccination campaign for children (measles, meningitis) and support health centers.
  • Food: From January to June 2019, the ICRC has assisted 22,000 internally displaced people with food in violence-affected regions.
  • Water: The ICRC rehabilitates water points and drills boreholes to improve people’s access to water. More than 7,800 people have benefitted.
  • Livelihoods: The vaccination of 68,000 heads of cattle was also organized early this year to support the main means of survival of many violence-affected people.

 

For further information please contact:

P. Eméline Yaméogo Oboulbiga, Communication Officer, ICRC Ouagadougou, +226 70 75 64 94, poboulbigaepouseyame@icrc.org
Steven Anderson, Communication Coordinator, ICRC Abidjan,+225 09 39 94 04, sanderson@icrc.org
Aurélie Lachant, Public Relations Officer, ICRC Geneva, +41 (0)79 244 64 05, alachant@icrc.org         

 

         

 

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Alidou Sawadogo, 52 years, comes from the village of Doffi. He traveled 25km on a motorcycle with his elderly mother, sick, in arms to go to the Barsalogho medical centre. The health center of his community was attacked and had to close. “"It's fear that triggered my mother's hypertension”.
Women and children make up the overwhelming majority of patients at the Barsalogho medical centre. "We are left to ourselves," Salamata Ouedraogo, a patient at the medical center.
Fatimata is relieved to have been able to look after her child in the Barsalogho medical centre. She fled her village after her husband was killed. "My son is better, even if everything is harder since the death of my husband."
Following the closure of several health centers in the province, the Barsalogho medical centre has three times more patients today than in 2018. There’s not enough hospital beds and some patients receive care or have to sleep outside. "We only have 12 beds for 50 people hospitalized," says Dr. Bertrand Dibri, general practitioner at the Barsalogho medical center.
Women and children make up the overwhelming majority of patients at the Barsalogho medical centre. "We are left to ourselves," Salamata Ouedraogo, a patient at the medical center.
Barsalogho is the main rallying point for people fleeing violence in the Centre-North region of Burkina Faso. "The community currently hosts more than 35,000 people and there are constant new arrivals, who walk up to 65km to come here," says Adama Sawadogo, volunteer at the Burkinabè Red Cross.
Barsalogho is the main rallying point for people fleeing violence in the Centre-North region of Burkina Faso. "The community currently hosts more than 35,000 people and there are constant new arrivals, who walk up to 65km to come here," says Adama Sawadogo, volunteer at the Burkinabè Red Cross.
Barsalogho is the main rallying point for people fleeing violence in the Centre-North region of Burkina Faso. "The community currently hosts more than 35,000 people and there are constant new arrivals, who walk up to 65km to come here," says Adama Sawadogo, volunteer at the Burkinabè Red Cross.
Barsalogho is the main rallying point for people fleeing violence in the Centre-North region of Burkina Faso. "The community currently hosts more than 35,000 people and there are constant new arrivals, who walk up to 65km to come here," says Adama Sawadogo, volunteer at the Burkinabè Red Cross.
Barsalogho is the main rallying point for people fleeing violence in the Centre-North region of Burkina Faso. "The community currently hosts more than 35,000 people and there are constant new arrivals, who walk up to 65km to come here," says Adama Sawadogo, volunteer at the Burkinabè Red Cross.
Women and children make up the overwhelming majority of patients at the Barsalogho medical centre. "We are left to ourselves," Salamata Ouedraogo, a patient at the medical center.
Women and children make up the overwhelming majority of patients at the Barsalogho medical centre. "We are left to ourselves," Salamata Ouedraogo, a patient at the medical center.
Salamata Ouedraogo is happy to have been able to give birth to her third child at the Barsalogho medical centre a month and a half ago. While she was pregnant, she fled from her village to seek refuge in this city, to be able to continue her prenatal consultations. "I will not return unless peace returns to my village. "
Women and children make up the overwhelming majority of patients at the Barsalogho medical centre. "We are left to ourselves," Salamata Ouedraogo, a patient at the medical center.
Women and children make up the overwhelming majority of patients at the Barsalogho medical centre. "We are left to ourselves," Salamata Ouedraogo, a patient at the medical center.
Women and children make up the overwhelming majority of patients at the Barsalogho medical centre. "We are left to ourselves," Salamata Ouedraogo, a patient at the medical center.
Dr. Bertrand Dibri and his team are consulting more than 150 children a day at the Barsalogho medical centre. These children suffer mainly from malaria and malnutrition. The community hosts more than 35,000 displaced people. They depend on this center for their health care, but the situation is difficult there too. "There’s no walls, no security here. Psychosis is everywhere but we have no choice. "
Dr. Bertrand Dibri consults a sick girl at the Barsalogho medical centre. "This child is suffering from the "dirty hand’s disease". This disease is linked to the living conditions of the displaced ".
Following the closure of several health centers in the province, the Barsalogho medical centre has three times more patients today than in 2018. There’s not enough hospital beds and some patients receive care or have to sleep outside. "We only have 12 beds for 50 people hospitalized," says Dr. Bertrand Dibri, general practitioner at the Barsalogho medical center.
Women and children make up the overwhelming majority of patients at the Barsalogho medical centre. "We are left to ourselves," Salamata Ouedraogo, a patient at the medical center.
Women and children make up the overwhelming majority of patients at the Barsalogho medical centre. "We are left to ourselves," Salamata Ouedraogo, a patient at the medical center.
Dr. Bertrand Dibri consults a sick girl at the Barsalogho medical centre. "This child is suffering from the "dirty hand’s disease". This disease is linked to the living conditions of the displaced ".
Following the closure of several health centers in the province, the Barsalogho medical centre has three times more patients today than in 2018. There’s not enough hospital beds and some patients receive care or have to sleep outside. "We only have 12 beds for 50 people hospitalized," says Dr. Bertrand Dibri, general practitioner at the Barsalogho medical center.
Safieta Kinima was a community health worker in Dablo. Her job was to sensitize women on the need to do prenatal checkups and get their children vaccinated. She doesn’t have a job anymore because the Dablo Health Center has closed following an attack. "I stay in Dablo, it's dangerous but it's my home. "
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