Medical care for Guinea’s poor
Guinea, ConakryGuinea Conakry
A clinic for the poor: 100,000 patients per year, for a price of $1.30 each.
The Saint Gabriel clinic lies in the outskirts of Conakry, Guinea’s captial, where 40% of the population lives below the poverty line. Malaria, tuberculosis, malnutrition and AIDS wreak havoc here.
After the death Sékou Touré in 1984 and the end of his bloody regime, the new government took steps to improve the country. One of these was to ask the Archdiocese of Conakry to open a clinic for the poor. This mission was entrusted to Fidesco, and the Saint Gabriel clinic opened its door in 1987. A maternity ward was added in 2001.
The largest health care center in the country.
It has sixty employees and 4 Fidesco volunteers. Every year, over 100,000 people receive care and medicine. The price, at $1.30 for the consultation, all included, is accessible even to the poorest.
What is on the horizon.
The maximum capacity for the Maternity Center has been reached with five births each day, approximately 1550 births per year. The goal to make the Saint Gabriel Clinic the best it can be in Guinea is being pursued by improving the follow-up of the patients, increasing education on general hygiene and working towards developing complementary services such as physical therapy, dental service and ophthalmology care.