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BURKINA FASO :: Helping street children + providing care Médecins Sans Frontières is helping children and youngsters living on the streets of the capital, Ouagadoughou. Instead of operating from a center, the team works on the streets in close proximity to these children. Today, the program reaches around 700 children and 80 teenage girls. The team carries out 40 to 60 medical consultations and various psychosocial activities each month. They organise meetings with teenage girls to raise awareness about health issues related to prostitution. They also train local health groups to treat sexually transmitted infections and have started a medical program for survivors of sexual violence. Advocacy is a key part of Médecins Sans Frontières’ work with street children. Since August 2003, the organization has held 65 information sessions on the predicament facing these young people. A total of 85,550 people living around Ouagadougou have taken part and watched the Médecins Sans Frontières movie “The Streets Are Not Paradise.” Information sessions have also been held in schools and at the national police academy. The national television station has broadcast the movie twice. In the remote town of Sindou in Leraba Province, Médecins Sans Frontières advocates for improved health care by raising awareness of health issues among the residents and by supporting their demands for quality care. Médecins Sans Frontières focuses particularly on maternal and child health care. The team provides assistance to seven regions in Sindou: Wolonkoto, Bagera, Niassogon, Negueni, Oueleni, Kangoura and Konadougou. Burkina Faso is facing a growing AIDS epidemic. In order to help those with the illness, Médecins Sans Frontières runs a project to improve the quality and duration of life for HIV-positive people living in the health district of Pissy in Ouagadougou. Now 1,300 patients are enrolled in the program and receive medical care for opportunistic infections. A program to prevent mother-to-child transmission of the virus started in January 2003 and is now operating in two maternity centers. In April 2003, Médecins Sans Frontières started providing life-extending antiretroviral (ARV) treatment as well. By the end of 2004, Médecins Sans Frontières hopes to have 600 HIV-positive patients enrolled. In early 2004, Médecins Sans Frontières was able to help halt a meningitis outbreak in the district of Nanoro by vaccinating 135,000 people against the less common W135 strain of meningitis.
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