Guinea

MSF remains one of the main organisations offering medical and psychosocial care for people living with HIV in the capital, Conakry. In the HIV unit we run at Donka hospital, our teams provide care to patients living with an advanced stage of the disease. We also support HIV testing and treatment in eight health facilities, and conduct awareness-raising, testing, and condom distribution campaigns. In 2020, we set up a new centre where HIV patients can benefit from peer support and access medication without having to go to hospital.

As the number of COVID-19 cases rapidly increased in Conakry in April, we established a 75-bed treatment unit in a centre we had originally built in 2014 to treat Ebola patients. In collaboration with the health authorities, our teams also carried out contact tracing, disinfection of patients’ homes, and prevention and follow-up activities.

From March to August, when there was an increase in measles cases in Conakry, our teams supported care for children under five in Matoto, Matam and Ratoma communes. In Bankalan, Kankan region, in response to floods which displaced hundreds of people, we rehabilitated a health post, built latrines and provided consultations and essential medicines.

In Kouroussa prefecture, we run a programme offering treatment for malaria, malnutrition, diarrhoea and respiratory infections for children under five. In 2020, the community health workers we trained, equipped and supported, treated over 27,000 children for malaria and diarrhoea in their communities. Meanwhile, we continued to support 24 health facilities in Kouroussa, including the prefectural hospital, where we treated patients requiring specialist care. A total of 65,000 people were admitted during the year.

No. staff in 2020: 333 (FTE) » Expenditure in 2020: €9.5 million MSF first worked in the country: 1984