Ivory Coast: Fear and Medical Needs Remain

July 8, 2014

The violent conflict set off by former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo’s refusal to step down after his electoral defeat morphed into several months of intense fighting between different groups. While it has abated to a certain extent, many of the people who fled their homes are not returning. They fear the conflict could flare up again or have nothing to return to, because their homes and fields were burned.

Most health care facilities in the west are not functioning, and in the eastern city of Abidjan, shortages of medical supplies persist. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is working in both areas, and in Liberia, where an estimated 142,331 Ivorian refugees have taken shelter, according to the United Nations.

MSF is supporting several hospitals and clinics across Abidjan, providing drug donations and running primary and secondary health care projects.

Ivory Coast 2011 © Nicola Vigilanti

In Abobo Sud Hospital and other facilities in Abidjan, MSF is treating patients wounded in the ongoing fighting and addressing a backlog of medical emergencies that accumulated during the violence. There has been a steep rise in the number of sick people and pregnant women with complications.

Ivory Coast 2011 © Nicola Vigilanti

Abobo Sud Hospital originally had a 20-bed capacity, but now more than 130 beds are squeezed into every available space.

Ivory Coast 2011 © Nicola Vigilanti

Every day, MSF still receives five to 10 people with gunshot injuries in Abobo Sud Hospital.

Ivory Coast 2011 © Nicola Vigilanti

Many patients have experienced or witnessed horrific violence and need mental health counseling. "People tell us they can’t eat or sleep properly and that they suffer from anxiety and heart palpitations," said MSF Head of Misson Xavier Simon. An MSF psychologist is providing support.

Ivory Coast 2011 © Nicola Vigilanti

MSF helped reopen Anyama Hospital, in a northern suburb of Abidjan. Staff perform surgery and provide post-operative care to patients referred by the Abobo Sud Hospital.

Ivory Coast 2011 © Nicola Vigilanti

MSF also provides pediatric and general healthcare to patients who begin lining up at Anyama Hospital at 5 am every morning.

Ivory Coast 2011 © Nicola Vigilanti

MSF is working in a clinic in the western town of Guiglo. "Many of the medical facilities in the western part of the country are not functioning because healthcare staff has not returned to work and because they lack medicine," says Xavier Simon, MSF's head of mission.

Ivory Coast 2011 © Nicola Vigilanti

The team also provides consultations at a camp in Guiglo. Patients who need surgery or hospital treatment are referred to the hospital in nearby Duekoué since Guiglo’s hospital was looted during the fighting.

Ivory Coast 2011 © Nicola Vigilanti

To reach displaced people, MSF sends mobile medical clinics to 25 locations along the west and southwest of Ivory Coast. Twenty more mobile clinics assist displaced people along the border counties inside Liberia.

Ivory Coast 2011 © Nicola Vigilanti