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on improving access to quality healthcare with Véronique Teyssié, Programme Manager for the Foundation Pierre Fabre, Paul Saghbini, Executive Administrator and Hospitaller of the Order of Malta in Lebanon, and Christine Amisi, Director of Panzi Hospital in the DRC.
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INTERVIEW
DR. ROCH M’BÉTID
gynaecologist and obstetrician at the Amitié Hospital in Bangui in the Central African Republic, which houses the free care unit for victims of sexual and gender-based violence
Work started on the NENGO project in 2020,
but when did it actually go live?
We began providing care in mid-September 2020. The message that our service was up and running is circulating effectively, and more and more patients are coming to us for help with issues such as gender- based violence, obstetric fistula, prolapse and genital mutilation. As things stand at the moment, we don’t yet fully cover the more remote districts, because the
roads around the capital remain closed due to the presence of armed rebels. As soon as peace returns, Médecins Sans Frontières
will help us to identify just how many people need our care and support.
Could you describe the working relationship
you have with your Congolese colleagues and
Dr Mukwege's team?
The team from Panzi hospital in the DRC, which is where the holistic care model we are using
originated, came to work with us in Bangui to transfer their skills and train the NENGO project medical teams.
We may also expand our staff, depending on the results of the needs assessment we plan to carry out.
What are your expectations of a project such as
this?
The funding we receive from the AFD and the Fondation Pierre Fabre gives the victims we treat a real opportunity, because it allows us to extend care to include psychological, socio-economic and legal issues, and ultimately provides long-term and appropriate response to the distress that they are in. We’ll also be working with the Association of Women Lawyers of the Central African Republic to intensify our work on community awareness of these issues. Our single goal is to help people and uphold the rights of individuals, but especially women.
patients are coming
to us for consultation.
GOOD TO KNOW
Renewed violence in the Central African Republic
Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, sex crimes in the Central African Republic have increased by around 10%, and intentional assaults on women and children have increased by 69%, according to a UN Police report published in June 2020. Health measures, such as limited access to social services, have worsened the situation of women: they represent 97% of the victims of gender-based violence.
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