“Insecurity fosters gender-based violence”
The Central African Republic is one of the poorest countries in the world. The security situation remains tense, and humanitarian needs continue to grow: “citizens have insufficient access to basic services, (…) gender-based violence (GBV) is widespread,” ¹ according to the World Bank. Meet Gypsie Christelle Nambozouina, 30, a clinical psychologist at the Castors maternity hospital in Bangui.
NIGERIA “Health centers save our lives”
In Nigeria, ALIMA provides care for people displaced by conflict.
In Nigeria, the continuing armed conflict, particularly in the northeastern part of the country, has contributed significantly to the deterioration of the country’s humanitarian situation. In the Northeastern Borno State, there are over 1.3 million internally displaced persons (IDPs)* and in Maiduguri, the state capital, 382,876 IDPs have been registered. The majority, some 273,159 of the displaced, are in formal camps, while another 109,717 are in informal camps.** Access to food, water, health care, or sanitation is limited.
Testimony from the field: 3 questions for Mireille, a midwife in CAR
The Central African Republic (CAR) suffers from one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world, with 890 deaths per 100,000 births. The success of field programs depends above all on the team, who are there on the ground, and who, each day, try to make a difference. Midwives play an especially important role in reducing maternal mortality, by helping women to safely deliver their babies.
Mireille, a 33-year-old midwife from CAR, who has been working with ALIMA since April 2017 as a midwife supervisor in the southwestern city of Bimbo, says her work, along with her four sons, is her greatest pride.
Back from Kasai: “in the heart of the void”. A photographer’s testimony
Alexis Huguet, is a freelance photographer who has been living in Africa for the past three years. Today he tells us about his second mission for ALIMA, which took him to the Kasai region in DRC. While some insecurity remains due to pockets of active armed militias, as displaced populations try to resettle, the medical needs are enormous. ALIMA supports two hospitals in Kamuesha and West Kalonda, and has opened nine health centers in Kamuesha, to provide primary and secondary health care and to fight against malnutrition.
“Give your blood, save lives”
When 35-year-old Maimuna was 37 weeks pregnant, she went into labor at her home in Monguno, in northeastern Nigeria, where she was living in a camp for internally displaced persons.
Vaccination: the challenges and benefits in West and Central Africa
In sub-Saharan Africa, the fight against infectious disease is a major public health challenge, with deadly consequences. Vaccinations remain one of our most effective weapons in fighting illness and keeping people healthy.
We spoke with Dr. Nafissa Dan-Bouzoua, medical team leader for ALIMA’s programs in Niger, Cameroon, Chad and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Dr. Susan Shepherd, medical expert for ALIMA, who discussed the importance of vaccinations for the health of our patients, and the role that operational research plays in developing vaccines and increasing vaccine coverage.
Video: ALIMA in 2017
In 2017, ALIMA and its partners treated one million patients including 800,000 children under the age of five.
1,000 Days: Rethinking Maternal-Child Care
DAKAR, July 18, 2017 – Thirty-four-year-old Zayatou Malam Hassan says she “suffered enormously” through seven difficult pregnancies, including a stillbirth at home, before being enrolled – during her eighth pregnancy – in ALIMA’s 1,000 Days program, which rethinks maternal-child care by offering a free, comprehensive pre- and post-natal care package to pregnant women and their children, up until the age of two.
