HDPT Info Bulletin 55
Apr 15th, 2008 by Gisele Willybiro, OCHA
7 - 14 April 2008 - Highlights:
- Forum on the financing and access to health care in Bangui, 8 - 10 April
- Training on treatment of gunshot injuries by the International Committee of the Red Cross
- 1,500 patients registered at the Ambulatory Treatment Centre of Bangui
- Humanitarian Needs Analysis Framework
Current events
Improving access to health care
A Forum on the financing and access to health care was held at the National Assembly in Bangui from 8 to 10 April. Participants debated how to offer health services at a lesser or even at no cost to pregnant women and children under five. Authorities and partners indeed noted that the cost of health care is often an obstacle to access, especially for the most vulnerable populations mentioned before.
In his opening address, Prime Minister Faustin Touadera highlighted that key health indicators in the Central African Republic are among the worst on the
continent: under five mortality stands at 176 per 1,000 and maternal mortality at 1,355 per 100,000 births.
To reduce these disturbing figures, the forum made recommendations on free access to health care for women and children under five, improved health
sector management at all levels, better coordination of international assistance, and further discussion on alternative funding mechanisms for health care, such as mutual insurance, and obstetric and pediatric packages. The prime minister encouraged the forum participants to set up a committee to follow up on the recommendations.
The forum was organized by the Ministry of Public Health, Population and AIDS with the support of the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF.
Close to 150 representatives of national and local health services, national and international NGOs, religious groups, and development partners participated in the meeting.
Training on treatment of gunshot injuries
Military medical staff and health personnel from hospitals in Bangui and the rural areas have honed their skills in providing care for people with gunshot wounds. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) organized a workshop on surgery for gunshot injuries from 7 to 9 April at the Somba hotel in Bangui so that health staff can meet the increasing demand for medical care for this type of injury. Twenty three medical doctors from Bangui and the provinces of Ouham, Ouham-Pendé and the Vakaga in the north of the country participated in the training.
Clashes between Government forces and different groups of the armed opposition in conflict zones often lead to gunshot injuries. Linked with the overall
insecurity in the north-west and the north-east of the country, attacks by criminal armed groups, so-called road bandits, against the people in the region also cause gunshot injury cases. Military and civil medical staff of the hospitals in the northern provinces struck by conflict are ever more often requested to provide care for people with gunshot wounds. In the capital Bangui, incidents involving the use of firearms often lead to serious injuries and contribute to an increase of casualties needing care from hospital surgeons.
These specific cases require medical interventions to which the workshop participants are not used. “These are not the kind of cases we are used to treat. Medical care for this type of injuries, in order to be effective, is quite different,” confirmed Dr. Issa Mapouka, surgeon and head of the orthopedic trauma unit of the Bangui community hospital, during the opening ceremony. “We benefitted from a similar ICRC workshop in 2001, and what we learned has been very useful at the time of the politico-military unrest which has beset the country afterwards,” he added.
During the three days, participants discussed a variety of themes concerning the surgical activities of ICRC in the world, the rights and duties of medical personnel and surgical practice. Jean-Nicolas Marti, head of the ICRC delegation announced that the workshop will be succeeded by other types of medical training.
For more information: jmarti.bng@cicr.org
1,500 patients registered at the ATC
At the request and under the supervision of the Ministry of Health, the French Red Cross (FRC) in March 2006 started to provide care for people living
with HIV at the Ambulatory Treatment Center (ATC) within the Community Hospital of Bangui. After two years, more than 1,500 patients are registered, and
890 patients are on antiretroviral therapy. Per month 150 to 200 voluntary HIV tests and 2,000 biological monitoring tests are performed.
Next to HIV treatment, the ATC provides various types of counseling and assistance, mainly implemented by the Central African Red Cross as part of its Nutrition and HIV/AIDS Information programme.
In addition, the French Red Cross has supported the Bangui Community Hospital by rehabilitating and bringing the laboratory up to standard through a donation of specialized equipment. The health department was also partially rehabilitated and an incinerator was built as per WHO recommendations. The FRC has also supported the department with the provision of drugs and the seconding of a French intern, working in both the health department and the ATC.
The project in the Bangui community hospital, part of a larger Health Initiative, is supported to the tune of € 320,000 (US$ 507,000) by the FRC, in partnership with the national Red Cross society, the Ministry of Health and the European Union, which provided a funding of € 2,880,000 (US$ 4,561,000) for the Health Initiative.
For more information : hod-rca.frc@croix-rouge.fr
Coordination
Humanitarian Needs Analysis Framework
Over the next few weeks, UN agencies and NGOs in the Central African Republic will bring data from numerous humanitarian assessments together in a single document, the Needs Analysis Framework (NAF). The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affaires (OCHA) is ensuring the coherence of this exercise.
The framework will make it easier to compare the situation in different sectors, such as education, human rights, health, food security, or water and sanitation. It will also highlight the interdependency among the different sectors and facilitate the comparison of the humanitarian situation in CAR with other countries where the same framework is used.
Based on this analysis of humanitarian needs, the members of the Humanitarian and Development Partnership Team (HDPT) will update their humanitarian strategy for 2008, the Coordinated Aid Programme (CAP) in May and June. The baseline framework will be completed by the end of April.
For more information: rostn@un.org
Click here to download a PDF version of the bulletin in English (PDF; 193 KB)
This is such a wonderful blog. It’s time that the world comes together as one people. If someone in your family was sick, would you not help them? That’s the way we need to look at the conditions of our brothers and sisters across this beautiful planet. Those in need can be helped, it’s all a matter of us all coming together finally as a family that cares enough to do something about it.