Feature Stories

Côte d'Ivoire religious groups get support to enhance mental health care

Bouake – In Côte d’Ivoire, popular beliefs often associate mental illness with paranormal events or spiritual manifestations. Most people seek care for mental health conditions in prayer camps set up by pastors. However, the “care” provided does not conform to standards and protocols for appropriate mental health services. 

Broadening access to hypertension care in Burkina Faso

Ouagadougou – Domdasse Adama could barely walk, with his left side paralysed and reliant on a cane. “But thanks to the support and treatment I received for hypertension, I can now walk on my own, and even ride a bicycle for several kilometres," he says.

Adama's journey to recovery from impaired mobility due to hypertension was far from easy. In the bustling town of Gana in central Burkina Faso, where medical resources were limited, his struggle to receive timely and effective care was a common challenge. 

Treating the war-wounded in eastern Chad

Leaning against the wall in a corridor at the University Hospital Centre in Abeche, a town around 900 km east of the Chadian capital N'Djamena, Dr Sassil Dare takes a few minutes to catch his breath. It is 3pm and he has already completed three surgeries.

Eliminating hepatitis

When Jean Paul Nduwumwe decided to have a hepatitis test while accompanying his pregnant wife on a clinic visit, he had no idea that following a positive result and three months of treatment his health and well-being would be restored, and he would feel “reborn”.

Addressing noncommunicable diseases

For four months Stella Fikiri underwent a variety of tests at several private health care institutions, before finally being diagnosed with diabetes at the Magomeni Public Health Facility in Kinondoni, a district in Tanzania’s commercial capital Dar es Salaam.

Self-injectable contraception successes

"My husband was against contraceptive," recalls Aïssa*. She recently gave birth to triplets. She has four older children, the youngest barely two years old. "Since the triplets, the financial burden has grown so much that it's been easier to persuade him," she adds.

Strengthening ICU bed capacity

With its mountainous terrain and use of donkeys and horses as primary modes of transport, Berea Hospital nurse Sello Ramakanate says the consequent high incidence of traumatic brain injuries in Lesotho is compounded by limited critical care, pushing up deaths rates.