Burundi
Improving health provision in Gitega, Burundi.

St. Mary’s Church in Reigate, through WER, has allocated a £40,000 grant  in order to expand the health service provisions at Gitega health clinic, Burundi

Due to extreme poverty, people in Burundi are far more susceptible to illnesses that could be easily prevented with the right resources and infrastructure.

Gitega Province has a population of 340,000 and Gitega town itself supports a population of 124,000, making it the second largest town in Burundi. WER partner, African Revival Ministries (ARM) currently operates an HIV/AIDS clinic and counselling centre there.

HIV/AIDS poses a huge threat to both individual sufferers and to the future development of Burundi. There were as many as 14,000 deaths in 2007 from HIV/AIDS and up to 150,000 AIDS orphans need care in Burundi.

Thanks to the generosity of St. Mary's Church the existing HIV/AIDS centre at Gitega will now be expanded into a health clinic that cares for the wider population.  The expanded clinic will treat a much broader range of ailments and, by treating both sets of patients side by side, it will help to break down the stigma attached to HIV/AIDS.

A new consultation room will accommodate x-ray facilities, dental treatments and gynaecological consultations.  There will be a new, fully-equipped pharmacy which will provide medicines to those in need. Finally, a new nutrition centre will provide residential treatment to over 30 malnourished children and out-patient treatment for up to 100 at-risk children per week.

The nutrition centre will not only provide food, it will also provide nutritional advice and education.  The land surrounding the health centre will  be used to grow food and to teach people how to diversify their food supply.

The geographical concentration of the population in rural areas means that access to health care is limited for most in Burundi. The closest health centre is a run down government hospital over five miles away which charges for health care.

Thankfully, the new health centre is located on the outskirts of Gitega, and so will be more accessible to the rural community. The centre will provide health care free to those in poverty.  In a country where only 2.3% of the total government income is spent on healthcare, this will make a huge difference.

The building will be completed by the end of December, and is set to generate new jobs to manage the increased capacity of the health centre.