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Home » Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso
The landlocked country Burkina Faso, formerly Upper Volta, is situated in the heart of West Africa, on the southern fringe of the Sahara desert. The population of c. 11.3m (2000 estimate) is divided in more than 50 tribes, with the Mossi making up the majority of 48%. The remainder is made up of a number of smaller ethnic groups such as Bobo, Peul, Senufo etc. with a share of the population between 5-10%. The official language is French, but over 60% of the population speak Sudanese tongues such as Moré (the language of the Mossi), Dioula or Gourmantche.
Over nine tenth of the population live on and from the land, urbanisation is still low. However, internal migration is a serious issue - the capital Ouagadougou in particular is growing rapidly and has reached an estimated 1.2m inhabitants.
The country is governed by President Blaise Compaoré since 1987, when Compaoré replaced the legendary revolutionary Captain Thomas Sankara. The latter's anti-corruption campaigns and autocratic style of leadership had led to resentments in Burkina and abroad. Compaoré has since, under considerable pressure from the opposition and from abroad, formally appeased and democratised the country. Although an example of stability in a wider international comparison, Burkina is periodically shaken by student protests and the opposition boycotts general elections.
The stability of the country is probably a product of relative ethnic homogeneity and the almost complete lack of exploitable natural resources. Most exports are primary products such as groundnuts or cotton.
Links about Burkina Faso
Healthcare System
The health care system in Burkina Faso is hierarchical and structured in several layers, the first two are understood as primary health care (PHC):
Poste de Santé Primaire (PSP - Healthpost)
Centre de Santé et de Promotion Sociale
(CSPS - Dispensary and Reproductive Health Unit)
Centre Médical (CM)
Centre Médical avec Antenne Chirurgicale (CMA)
Centre Hospitalier Regional (CHR)
Centre Hospitalier National (CHN)
The first level provides a small community with essential treatment, in particular open wounds and infectious diseases. A CSPS treats more severe cases, in particular births and the necessary aftercare. A medical centre caters for a small town, usually has a doctor and often an attached operating theatre (Antenne Chirurgicale). Hospital centres are found in larger towns and full scale hospitals.
Patients are - in theory - sent to the next level according to the severity of their condition. Reality suggests a different practice: very few communities have a working PSP as the concept is based on the voluntary work of community health workers and the provision with essential drugs and consumables is not guaranteed. The next medical centre is often a day's travel away and treatment costs often prohibitive to the poorest patients.
Dispensaries too face this problem. Although staff (health worker and midwife) are paid by the state, elementary equipment, furniture and basic consumables are often lacking - very few institutions have a functioning pharmacy and essential drugs are not available.
In 1987, the World Health Organisation WHO had a general meeting in Bamako, the capital of neighbouring Mali. The problem of financing community health institutions from public sources was the dominating topic. The so-called Bamako Initiative results of these discussions and consists of the recommendation to revitalise failing healthcare institutions through co-financing models, either via insurance schemes or through direct contributions of the patients as in Sané or Nabakoutou.
Experiences with such models differ widely, but there is consent about the choice not being between free or prohibitively expensive treatment, but rather between a fee-for-service model or no treatment at all as the alternative.
LINKS about Burkina Faso & Development Policy:
» Norwegian Council for Africa - Country Page
» Österreichische Entwicklungsportal
» Österreichische Entwicklungszusammenarbeit
» Reliefweb - Country Page
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| Kinderfotos aus den Dörfern Nabakoutou und Sané in der Provinz Kardiogo. |
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| Schlachten eines Hammels beim traditionellen islamischen Schächtfest, Klara im Dolo-Rausch. |
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