Treating patients with
malaria and sleeping
sickness
Malaria causes the highest rates of death
and sickness in the country. To help
address this problem, in August 2004, MSF
and the ministry of health signed an agreement
to treat all malaria patients in the
eastern prefecture of Haut Mbomou with
highly effective artemisinin-based combination
therapy (ACT). In addition to offering
testing and medical treatment, MSF
staff are also training national health staff
working in 20 of the area's health structures
and rehabilitating hospital wards,
sanitation facilities, the laboratory and the
waste-disposal center.
Pregnant women
receive prophylactic treatment to avoid
contracting the disease which can cause
spontaneous abortion, low birth weight
and premature delivery. Free mosquito
nets have also been distributed.
MSF continues to help those suffering from
sleeping sickness (African trypanosomiasis).
MSF staff provide comprehensive care
including diagnosis of the illness, treatment,
epidemiological surveillance, training
of national health staff and support for
the national program to control the disease.
The teams, working in Haut Mbomou
in the eastern region of Mboki, also offer
primary health care services.
A team located in Bangui offers assistance
during emergencies. In March 2004, MSF
carried out a meningitis vaccination campaign
in Batangafo and Boguila. MSF treated
those infected with bloody diarrhea in
Kaga Bandoro from August 2004 until the
end of the year. MSF staff also conducted
two measles vaccination campaigns in
Bangui and Molangué during September
2004.
MSF has worked in the Central African Republic since 1997.
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