Thanks to the initiative “Health and Nutrition for the vulnerable population of the Sub-prefecture of Bossemptélé“, funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS)continues the commitment of Salute e Sviluppo to increase access to basic essential services in the Central African Republic. The project, launched on 27 September 2021, is in continuity with previous emergency initiatives in support of the population of Bossemptélé, with the aim of ensuring access to health, food and water for vulnerable groups.

The Central African Republic (CAR) is one of the poorest countries in the world. The serious humanitarian crisis that has affected the country for years continues to have dramatic repercussions on the living conditions of the population.

At the health level, the country is in a chronic state of emergency due to the lack of adequate drugs and equipment and the lack of qualified and specialized personnel. Health facilities outside the capital are almost non-existent and recent clashes between rebel forces and government militias have severely limited their ability to provide care, particularly to women and children.

In the Bossemptélé prefecture, the rate of access to health services is only 45%. The Saint John Paul II Hospital is the only hospital in the city. Patients (including urgent cases) are received in a small, single room where consultations are also carried out. The space for first aid is definitely inadequate and insufficiently equipped. Only in five villages are there poste de santé, first level facilities located in remote and peripheral areas, in which “securiste” (nurses who have no qualifications) work, and which operate mainly on a community basis. They are in a precarious condition, consisting of one or two small rooms, with roofs and walls full of cracks and large openings that cause flooding in case of rain, where people give birth on the floor in the absence of beds and chairs. Most of them are unfurnished, lacking consumables and medical equipment. Some are used as a night shelter when not on duty.

In this fragile context, the project aims to strengthen the health and nutritional care of local communities, increasing the availability, quality and coverage of the services offered in hospitals and villages and ensuring access to food and water.

What the project will actually do for the benefit of about 25,000 people in the intervention area will act on two interconnected levels.

In the Hospital is planned to:

• Rehabilitate the first reception room and consultations
• Provide medicines and consumables
• Organise training sessions for health personnel
• Build and equip a room for food preparation
• Distribute daily meals to patients

In the villages is planned to:

• Rehabilitate three dispensaries and build a new poste de santé
• Training the poste de santé operators
• Strengthening the mobile clinic and information education and communication (IEC) service on hygiene and nutrition

The project will run for one year. We will keep you updated soon on the progress of the activities and its results that we will achieve!