In 2021, we completed the handover of our activities at L'Arche de Kigobe, a private trauma centre in Bujumbura that we had been managing since 2015, and switched our focus to supporting Prince Regent Charles Hospital, a large public health facility in the city, to treat patients with severe and moderate trauma. As well as training medical teams, we donated medical supplies, carried out rehabilitation work and offered financial assistance.

This support came into play when armed clashes broke out across the city in May, September and December, and our staff helped to provide emergency care at the hospital to the large influxes of patients wounded in grenade attacks.

In November, when several suspected cases of cholera were reported in Cibitoke province, we sent a team to support the local cholera treatment centre that we had set up two years earlier. A few weeks later, a massive fire destroyed large parts of Gitega’s central prison and our teams helped Gitega’s general hospital to provide emergency care for survivors, many of whom had severe burns.

Since late 2019, we have been seeing large numbers of patients with a disease causing lower-limb ulcers in Muyinga province. We are working to improve early detection and care in health centres and at community level, while also pursuing medical research to better understand the nature, causes and transmission mode of this neglected tropical disease.

One of our main focuses in Burundi is tackling malaria, the leading cause of death in the country. In addition to providing treatment, we collaborate with the health authorities to implement measures to reduce the incidence of the disease. In Kinyinya and Ryansoro districts, we supported malaria care in health facilities and conducted anti-mosquito indoor residual spraying campaigns. Close to 100,000 households were treated during these campaigns, protecting half a million people for up to nine months.