Medical treatment for a child in Guinea

Survival aid

Health center in Conakry

The outbreak of the Ebola epidemic in West Africa shocked the world in 2014. Never before has there been an Ebola epidemic of such magnitude. The first Ebola patient in this epidemic died on December 28, 2013 in Meliandou, a small village in Guinea. The epidemic has plunged the Guinean capital Conakry into a crisis situation. In addition to those infected with Ebola, there are also many other sick people in Conakry. The state health system is completely overwhelmed by the crisis. The United Nations warned in September that the states affected by Ebola could collapse.

need

Medical care for sick children in Conakry.

activity

Treatment of sick children in Conakry.

Measurable performance

Number of children who were able to receive medical treatment

Result

Measurable reduction in new cases of the same children due to improved medical care

Systemically relevant impact

Children become healthy again, miss fewer school days and thus have better development opportunities. The example of the St. Gabriel center will lead to less corruption in other health centers in Guinea.

background

Dealing with the current crisis is putting the already structurally weak country to an incredible test. The people of Guinea could be rich and finance a state system that could deal with the epidemic better than the current one. Half of all the world's aluminum ore is stored here and without aluminum there would be no airplanes, for example. The soil is rich in diamond and gold deposits. Gold was mined here as early as the 17th century. Gold coins were called "guineas" in many countries at the time. Unfortunately, the country has never had much luck with its governments. The proceeds from the mineral resources mainly benefit government officials and foreign companies. Corruption is widespread. In Transparency International's international corruption index, Guinea ranked 150th out of 175 in 2013.
In order to deal with the current crisis, non-governmental actors have joined forces under the coordination of Doctors Without Borders and developed a strategy to deal with the crisis. The 24gooddeeds partner organization Fidesco eV runs a health center in Conakry. All patients are admitted here first. If Ebola is suspected, the patients are isolated and transferred to Doctors Without Borders' Ebola center. All other patients are treated in the health center.

The good deed

Over 100,000 patients come to the St. Gabriel center every year: 17% are adults, 30% are pregnant women who come for preventive care or to give birth. 53% are sick children (provisional figures for 2013). The sick pay a fixed price, which is the equivalent of around 75 cents. In return, they receive all the necessary examinations and all the medication until they are healthy again. If they have a relapse within 14 days of treatment, they are treated free of charge. St. Gabriel is considered the best health center in Guinea. The city of Conakry is located on a peninsula in the Atlantic and stretches for around 35 km. The center is located roughly in the middle. Most people in Conakry earn less than one euro a day. The health center never turns anyone away. If someone cannot afford the treatment, it is paid for from the fund for particularly poor patients. The donation from 24gooddeeds is also paid into this. But how does the clinic know that it is really helping those most in need? Most people who come to the clinic are known because they live in the area. This means that other people can usually confirm whether the person is really in great need. However, the health center cannot always be completely sure of this and sometimes of course takes the risk of not financing treatment for extremely needy patients who ask for it.

AboutRepublic of Guinea