Feature Stories

Following successive Ebola and Marburg outbreaks across East Africa, countries are shifting how preparedness is defined, placing greater emphasis on the quality of clinical care delivered to patients.

Ouaké—In a house in the commune of Ouaké, in northern Benin, Djahara, in her twenties and mother of a 14 month old child, hesitated to have her child vaccinated again. After a previous vaccination, her child’s foot had swollen. Worried, she preferred to stop. “Before, I used to take my child to be vaccinated. But after that incident, I stopped. Today, I’ve resumed and I’m happy to do it,” she confides.

Victoria—On a typical morning Norma Michaud-Payet, a nurse at English River health centre in Victoria, Seychelles’ capital, prepares for the day's immunization session. She checks the cold chain temperature log, reviews the appointment schedule and arranges immunization leaflets on her desk. When the first parent arrives with an infant, she greets him warmly by name.

Asmara—Eritrea’s mountainous central region is home to seasonally migratory populations. Nomadic lifestyle complicates access to basic services, especially among women and children who face higher health risks such as maternal mortality and immunization gaps due to geographic isolation, mobility and at times cultural norms.

Lomé—When his daughter developed a high fever, Jean did not hesitate: he went straight to the health centre. A farmer from Agokpo, in the Plateaux region about 100 kilometers north of Lomé, he recalls the day his 8 year old daughter Adèle was admitted. Beyond the speed of care, what struck him most was the warm welcome and the clarity of the explanations. “As soon as we arrived, she was tested. The health workers explained that it was malaria. They gave us the treatment, and apart from paracetamol, everything was covered,” he recounts.

Kinshasa / Luanda / Windhoek -  “Just two drops. Two miraculous drops that prevent paralysis. Let’s all vaccinate our children,” said Dr. Silvia Lutucuta, Minister of Health of Angola, as more than 10 million children were vaccinated against polio last month across Angola, Namibia and in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in a coordinated regional effort to stop the spread of the virus across borders.

Dakar—“Before, I stayed at home. Now I am happy to go back to school,” says 15-year-old Boubacar Barry. This return marks a decisive turning point in his life. For nearly nine years, he lived with severely limited mobility, which restricted his movements and kept him on the margins of school life.

Niamey—In the Emergency Obstetric and Neonatal Care (EmONC) simulation room at the Faculty of Health Sciences of Abdou Moumouni University in Niamey, future specialists train to manage complications before facing real-life situations. Among them, Dr Amina Garba Amadou, a fourth-year obstetrics and gynecology resident, spends several hours each week practicing on a neonatal mannequin. This tool reproduces critical situations and concretely transforms her learning.

Campo—In Campo, a humid forest town in southern Cameroon, daily life revolves around fishing and farming. Some vector borne diseases, despite having declined sharply, still persist—including sleeping sickness, also known as human African trypanosomiasis. Caused by a parasite transmitted by the bite of the tsetse fly, the disease can affect the nervous system and become fatal if left untreated.