Donka Hospital
Encyclopedia
The Donka Hospital is a publicly owned hospital in Conakry
, Guinea
. It has inadequate facilities to handle demand, and many Guineans cannot afford its service. More than once in recent years the hospital has had to deal with a major influx of patients wounded in civil disturbances.
.
It is located to the northeast of the Conakry Grand Mosque
and across the main road from the infamous Camp Boiro
.
It is the largest public hospital in the country, built in 1959 just before independence.
The Soviet Union
assisted in its construction.
Sewage is treated by autonomous wastewater treatment plants funded by the World Bank.
The hospital receives priority supply of electricity, but blackouts were frequent in 2006 when oil prices soared.
The hospital did not have enough money to pay for fuel for the main back-up power generator.
The Orthopedic Department was established in February 1982. At that time, the main problems it addressed were neglected poliomyelitis cases.
In 2004, the West Africa Health Organization (WAHO), working with the Guinea Government, began giving two-year courses in ophthalmology for General Practice Doctors, with intensive theoretical and practical training. Facilities were insufficient. CBM
, Sightsavers
and WAHO arranged to build a new facility in the teaching hospital compound, which was opened on 9 April 2010.
It therefore enforces a rigorous pay-as-you-go policy, which puts treatment and drugs out of reach of many poor people.
New patients must first be tested for life-threatening illnesses such as tuberculosis, AIDS, cholera, malaria and cancer. Since many Guineans do not have enough money to pay for the blood test, they cannot get medical attention at the hospital.
The director of the hospital, Dr Taibou Barry, acknowledged the problem in 2003, saying: "The families are poor and when they come to the hospital, they have to pay for everything, and that’s probably all the money they have, so they must choose to eat or to come to the hospital".
A 2008 report from IRIN described the case of Aboubacar Traoré, who took his two-year-old daughter to the hospital for emergency medical treatment. Although the fee for consultation was $5, as shown on a sign on the wall, the doctor demanded more.
Another doctor at the hospital said she was not surprised. She said "I have seen colleagues here persuade patients that only they can treat them, and once the patient has gained trust in that doctor, he or she bribes the patient".
Causes include lack of primary health care or peripheral obstetrical services, poor training of nurses and midwives and lack of general health education among the public.
In March 2011, the general wardroom for pre-mature babies in the Maternity Center had four incubators, but only one was working. It held five babies. The center is not equipped to handle the demand. About 80% of premature babies die within a few days.
The Donka Hospital Institute of Nutrition and Child Health is the only children's hospital in Conakry.
Between January and the end of September 2006, 623 malnourished children were admitted, a significant increase over previous years. The "dark, airless wards" were overcrowded, with some children sleeping two to a bed.
On 27 January 2009, a group of Marines from the U.S. Embassy delivered toys to each of the children at the Pediatric Hospital.
The actress Mia Farrow
, who serves as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, visited the hospital in May 2010.
She saw three newborn infants in one incubator in the maternity ward.
She met mothers of severely malnourished children, and saw children fighting measles and other preventable childhood killer diseases.
She said "It is wrenching to watch a child dying of a disease that is completely preventable. This is a result of Guinea's failing health system".
The cost of a measles vaccine is as low as US$1.
The hospital's dialysis department has five dialysis machines and can only treat 21 patients. There are private dialysis centers, but most patients cannot pay the $100 cost of the treatment.
The Donka hospital provides training for mass marketing, communication and marketing aspects of prevention of HIV/AIDS, funded by the World Bank
and other sources.
The International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC) provided six vehicles to take wounded people to Donka Hospital on 22 January 2007.
119 patients were admitted, most with bullet wounds.
The ICRC supplied a surgical kit for treating up to 150 gunshot victims to the hospital.
Donka hospital cared for at least 800 wounded people, assisted by Médecins Sans Frontières
.
According to Djoulde Barry, director general of the hospital, 33 dead were registered there.
On 28 September 2009 a demonstration against the military junta at a city stadium was violently suppressed by security forces, with dozens of deaths and hundreds of injuries.
Women reported that soldiers had raped them in public in the stadium. Medical records from Donka hospital showed that at least 32 of the women protesters were raped.
More than 220 first aid workers from the Red Cross Society of Guinea gave emergency medical assistance to more than 350 wounded people and took the most serious cases to the hospitals, mostly to the Donka National Hospital.
The injured packed the emergency room. Military from the Presidential Guard and Anti-Drug and Anti-Organized Crime Unit showed up around 3:00 pm that day. They fired their rifles into the air, destroyed medicines and yelled at the wounded to leave the hospital. They prevented anyone else from entering the building. The register of people treated was later lost.
Following the 28 September violence, the ICRC gave essential medical and surgical items to Conakry's hospitals, including kits to treat bullet wounds, masks, gloves and saline solution, and also provided body bags.
The ICRC and the Red Cross Society of Guinea tried to reunite family members, particularly children, who had been separated in the violence.
The NGO Terre des hommes
was providing meals to patients in the Hospital, with the Health Ministry and private donations assisting in the supply of food.
As follow-up to the violence, the ICRC helped Donka Hospital revise its emergency plan for handling a large influx of patients with bullet wounds.
Further violence occurred before the October 2010 Presidential run-off elections.
Supporters of the candidate Cellou Dalein Diallo
of the Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea
threw stones at police, who responded with gunfire. Two people were killed and at least 29 people were injured, treated in private clinics or Donka Hospital. The victims included "13 adolescents and three young girls".
Violence continued after the elections, which were disputed.
On 16 November 2010, Donka hospital reported treating 30 gunshot wounds, mostly direct shots rather than from stray bullets.
Conakry
Conakry is the capital and largest city of Guinea. Conakry is a port city on the Atlantic Ocean and serves as the economic, financial and cultural centre of Guinea with a 2009 population of 1,548,500...
, Guinea
Guinea
Guinea , officially the Republic of Guinea , is a country in West Africa. Formerly known as French Guinea , it is today sometimes called Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from its neighbour Guinea-Bissau. Guinea is divided into eight administrative regions and subdivided into thirty-three prefectures...
. It has inadequate facilities to handle demand, and many Guineans cannot afford its service. More than once in recent years the hospital has had to deal with a major influx of patients wounded in civil disturbances.
Facilities
Donka is a University Teaching Hospital, one of two in Conakry, the other being Ignace Deen HospitalIgnace Deen Hospital
The Ignace Deen Hospital is a hospital in Conakry, Guinea built during the colonial era. A report in 2011 described the conditions as squalid, with poor quality of care. During the election campaign in October 2010, the hospital received several dozen supporters of the Presidential candidate Alpha...
.
It is located to the northeast of the Conakry Grand Mosque
Conakry Grand Mosque
The Conakry Grand Mosque is a mosque in Conakry, Guinea, located north of the Conakry Botanical Garden. It was built by Ahmed Sékou Touré, opening in 1982...
and across the main road from the infamous Camp Boiro
Camp Boiro
Camp Boiro or Camp Mamadou Boiro is a defunct Guinean concentration camp within Conakry city.During the regime of President Ahmed Sékou Touré, thousands of political opponents were imprisoned at the camp....
.
It is the largest public hospital in the country, built in 1959 just before independence.
The Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
assisted in its construction.
Sewage is treated by autonomous wastewater treatment plants funded by the World Bank.
The hospital receives priority supply of electricity, but blackouts were frequent in 2006 when oil prices soared.
The hospital did not have enough money to pay for fuel for the main back-up power generator.
The Orthopedic Department was established in February 1982. At that time, the main problems it addressed were neglected poliomyelitis cases.
In 2004, the West Africa Health Organization (WAHO), working with the Guinea Government, began giving two-year courses in ophthalmology for General Practice Doctors, with intensive theoretical and practical training. Facilities were insufficient. CBM
Christian Blind Mission
The Christian Blind Mission is a Christian humanitarian organization aiming to improve the lives of people with disabilities. It considered one of the world's oldest and largest religious organization serving the blind and disabled...
, Sightsavers
Sightsavers
Sightsavers is a large international charity that works to combat blindness in developing countries...
and WAHO arranged to build a new facility in the teaching hospital compound, which was opened on 9 April 2010.
Charges
The hospital has built up debt over the years, and cannot persuade the government or aid agencies to help with repayments.It therefore enforces a rigorous pay-as-you-go policy, which puts treatment and drugs out of reach of many poor people.
New patients must first be tested for life-threatening illnesses such as tuberculosis, AIDS, cholera, malaria and cancer. Since many Guineans do not have enough money to pay for the blood test, they cannot get medical attention at the hospital.
The director of the hospital, Dr Taibou Barry, acknowledged the problem in 2003, saying: "The families are poor and when they come to the hospital, they have to pay for everything, and that’s probably all the money they have, so they must choose to eat or to come to the hospital".
A 2008 report from IRIN described the case of Aboubacar Traoré, who took his two-year-old daughter to the hospital for emergency medical treatment. Although the fee for consultation was $5, as shown on a sign on the wall, the doctor demanded more.
Another doctor at the hospital said she was not surprised. She said "I have seen colleagues here persuade patients that only they can treat them, and once the patient has gained trust in that doctor, he or she bribes the patient".
Treatment
A 1989 study found that maternal mortality at the hospital was 12.47 per 1,000, an extremely high figure.Causes include lack of primary health care or peripheral obstetrical services, poor training of nurses and midwives and lack of general health education among the public.
In March 2011, the general wardroom for pre-mature babies in the Maternity Center had four incubators, but only one was working. It held five babies. The center is not equipped to handle the demand. About 80% of premature babies die within a few days.
The Donka Hospital Institute of Nutrition and Child Health is the only children's hospital in Conakry.
Between January and the end of September 2006, 623 malnourished children were admitted, a significant increase over previous years. The "dark, airless wards" were overcrowded, with some children sleeping two to a bed.
On 27 January 2009, a group of Marines from the U.S. Embassy delivered toys to each of the children at the Pediatric Hospital.
The actress Mia Farrow
Mia Farrow
Mia Farrow is an American actress, singer, humanitarian, and fashion model.Farrow first gained wide acclaim for her role as Allison Mackenzie in the soap opera Peyton Place, and for her subsequent short-lived marriage to Frank Sinatra...
, who serves as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, visited the hospital in May 2010.
She saw three newborn infants in one incubator in the maternity ward.
She met mothers of severely malnourished children, and saw children fighting measles and other preventable childhood killer diseases.
She said "It is wrenching to watch a child dying of a disease that is completely preventable. This is a result of Guinea's failing health system".
The cost of a measles vaccine is as low as US$1.
The hospital's dialysis department has five dialysis machines and can only treat 21 patients. There are private dialysis centers, but most patients cannot pay the $100 cost of the treatment.
The Donka hospital provides training for mass marketing, communication and marketing aspects of prevention of HIV/AIDS, funded by the World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
and other sources.
Civil unrest
At the start of 2007, strikes and protests were called due to rising commodity prices and falling living standards, coupled with pervasive corruption and political unrest. In the ensuing violence, about 180 people died and over 1,000 were injured.The International Committee of the Red Cross
International Committee of the Red Cross
The International Committee of the Red Cross is a private humanitarian institution based in Geneva, Switzerland. States parties to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols of 1977 and 2005, have given the ICRC a mandate to protect the victims of international and...
(ICRC) provided six vehicles to take wounded people to Donka Hospital on 22 January 2007.
119 patients were admitted, most with bullet wounds.
The ICRC supplied a surgical kit for treating up to 150 gunshot victims to the hospital.
Donka hospital cared for at least 800 wounded people, assisted by Médecins Sans Frontières
Médecins Sans Frontières
' , or Doctors Without Borders, is a secular humanitarian-aid non-governmental organization best known for its projects in war-torn regions and developing countries facing endemic diseases. Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland...
.
According to Djoulde Barry, director general of the hospital, 33 dead were registered there.
On 28 September 2009 a demonstration against the military junta at a city stadium was violently suppressed by security forces, with dozens of deaths and hundreds of injuries.
Women reported that soldiers had raped them in public in the stadium. Medical records from Donka hospital showed that at least 32 of the women protesters were raped.
More than 220 first aid workers from the Red Cross Society of Guinea gave emergency medical assistance to more than 350 wounded people and took the most serious cases to the hospitals, mostly to the Donka National Hospital.
The injured packed the emergency room. Military from the Presidential Guard and Anti-Drug and Anti-Organized Crime Unit showed up around 3:00 pm that day. They fired their rifles into the air, destroyed medicines and yelled at the wounded to leave the hospital. They prevented anyone else from entering the building. The register of people treated was later lost.
Following the 28 September violence, the ICRC gave essential medical and surgical items to Conakry's hospitals, including kits to treat bullet wounds, masks, gloves and saline solution, and also provided body bags.
The ICRC and the Red Cross Society of Guinea tried to reunite family members, particularly children, who had been separated in the violence.
The NGO Terre des hommes
Terre des hommes
Terre des hommes is a charitable international humanitarian federation which concentrates on children's rights, founded in 1959 and based in Lausanne, Switzerland...
was providing meals to patients in the Hospital, with the Health Ministry and private donations assisting in the supply of food.
As follow-up to the violence, the ICRC helped Donka Hospital revise its emergency plan for handling a large influx of patients with bullet wounds.
Further violence occurred before the October 2010 Presidential run-off elections.
Supporters of the candidate Cellou Dalein Diallo
Cellou Dalein Diallo
Cellou Dalein Diallo is a Guinean economist and politician who was Prime Minister of Guinea from 2004 to 2006. Currently he is President of the Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea , an opposition party....
of the Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea
Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea
The Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea is a political party in Guinea.The party was founded in October 2002 by the section of Union for Progress and Renewal which boycotted that year's parliamentary election. Its first president was Mamadou Ba...
threw stones at police, who responded with gunfire. Two people were killed and at least 29 people were injured, treated in private clinics or Donka Hospital. The victims included "13 adolescents and three young girls".
Violence continued after the elections, which were disputed.
On 16 November 2010, Donka hospital reported treating 30 gunshot wounds, mostly direct shots rather than from stray bullets.