Sahel: Free Health Care for Mothers and Children

In the Sahel region every fourth child dies before it has reached its fifth birthday. Clean drinking water and sufficient nutrition is lacking. Diarrhea and malaria very often lead to death if not treated. Most of the births are taking place without any medical support. Thus the number of women and new-born babies who die shortly after birth is very high. 

The only solution: Free health care for mothers and children provided by Help – Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe. Help can provide free health care for pregnant and breastfeeding women and children under five, that are in special need for a sufficient medical support. This project started in Niger in 2006 and was extended to the neighboring country of Burkina Faso in 2008. In the Districts of Tera and Mayahi in Niger and Dori and Sebaa in Burkina Faso 450,000 children fewer than 5 and pregnant women as well as breastfeeding mothers receive free medical care during and after pregnancy and birth support. More than 450 rural health centers in Niger and Burkina Faso take part in the program.

In order to ensure, that fast aid can save lives, Help is supporting ambulances as well as medicine. Training and preventive health care programs are organized to ensure the sustainability of the projects. And the effects can be measured: In the regions that are supported by Help mother and child mortality have been reduced considerably and the acceptance of the programs in the rural population is increasing. "The acceptance and the sustainability of the programs are very important for us. The next step will be to transfer the responsibility completely into local ownership", says regional coordinator Kristina Rauland.