Feature Stories

Bata – Juan de Dios, a nurse in the emergency unit of the hospital in Bata, a port city in Equatorial Guinea, still remembers the frequent calls for help that echoed through the corridors: “There’s no oxygen!” “It was a race against time to procure and deliver the oxygen on time. On account of its high cost, the hospital was forced to charge families, even low-income ones, for its use. It was terrifying not knowing if we could save a life because of all this.”

Brazzaville – “Previously, I avoided going to the integrated health centre (IHC) due to the high cost of care and poor reception," says Christine, 58, who lives in Nzalangoye, in Ouesso District in northern Congo. 

In 2021, only 13.82% of the Congolese population had access to health services. Barriers such as lack of information, high cost of services, insecurity and geographical isolation, restricted access.

Nairobi – Five years ago, Esther Omagwa was one of only two nurses at the Railways Health Centre in Kisumu County, western Kenya. The immense workload often exhausted her, forcing her to turn away clients.

Today, the scene at the community health centre is remarkably different. With the nursing staff now expanded to a team of four, Omagwa and her colleagues are better equipped to deal with the load.

Algiers – Brahim, a 14-year-old student, has been visiting the local health centre in Cherchell every week for a year to participate in individual therapy sessions and receive career guidance. “I came to seek help for my addiction to cannabis and tobacco,” he confides. “It was very difficult at first. I had trouble communicating with others. But week after week, the staff at the centre helped me gain confidence in myself. They encourage me not to drop out of school and not to lose hope.”

Kigali - Esther Uwababyeyi's journey with HIV began at a young age. "Since the age of three, I've been on HIV treatment,” she says. Born in 2002, Uwababyeyi was infected during her mother’s pregnancy, a time when access to HIV treatment for women living with HIV was only just starting to improve. Now 22 years old and living in Rwanda’s Rwamagana district in the Eastern Province, she has benefitted greatly from the advancements in country’s HIV treatment programme over the years.

Malabo – In Equatorial Guinea, where over 6% of the population lives with HIV, access to antiretroviral (ARV) treatment was limited to just two centres in the provincial capitals of Malabo and Bata until 2017. This restricted access caused difficulties in patient follow-up and placed significant strain on health services.

Brazzaville – Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the top global public health and development threats. About4.71 million deaths were linked to bacterial AMR in 2021 alone, with sub-Saharan Africa accounting for highest mortality rates.

Bujumbura – The biomedical laboratory is a critical component of outbreak response efforts. In Burundi, it serves as a cornerstone in addressing the current mpox outbreak. When the outbreak was declared on 25 July, the country faced a shortage of qualified staff to manage the laboratory pillar effectively. As of 17 November, Burundi is the second most affected country in the African Region, with 2003 confirmed mpox cases.