In Burundi, the health system is in poor shape due to a lack of materials and a lack of qualified personnel. There are few well-equipped hospitals. Private clinics are expensive. Most people cannot afford expensive health care treatments, and many are even detained in hospitals after surgery if they cannot pay the bill. In 2006, the government introduced the cost of pregnancy for women and health care for children under 5 years old, before patients had to pay for themselves. The health and life expectancy of the people is very bad. There is no general health insurance for the rural population, although plans do exist. Health insurance for state officials is not being implemented in a real way or has financing problems. Civil war and poverty exacerbate health problems in rural areas of Burundi. The corruption exacerbated the situation in the hospitals.
According to internetsailors, health centers and small hospitals exist in all provinces of Burundi. However, the density of doctors is only given as 6 per 100,000 people. Malaria, HIV / AIDS and tuberculosis are still common. To this day, malaria remains the leading cause of death in the medical field, especially among children. With malaria epidemics occur again and again, many do not know enough about the transmission routes and effective protection by mosquito nets. In 2019, over 5 million Burunders contracted malaria, and 1,800 people had died by August.
Gynecological problems are also common in women, such as the occurrence of obstetric fistulas as a result of many births in poor condition of the mothers. Also diarrheal diseases by contaminated drinking water are very common.
The HIV / AIDS rate can still be described as relatively high, even if there have been successes in prevention and treatment in recent years. Women and mothers in particular need to be better informed. HIV / AIDS and homosexuality are highly sensitive issues. The stigmatization of those infected with HIV is very pronounced, and death from AIDS is often concealed. In 2019, Burundi will be one of the model countries in which an HIV vaccine will be tested.
Also Cholera occurs again and again, especially in the refugee camps. The number of tuberculosis sufferers is high, even when accompanied by HIV / AIDS. The leprosy is eradicated in Burundi not. The disease occurs again and again and not just isolated. The infant, children – and the maternal mortality can be used as unabated high are called, malnutrition is especially in children frequent. 2/3 of the population is still undernourished today, Burundi is one of the three countries with the highest rate Malnourished worldwide. Quantitative and qualitative undernourishment or malnutrition (protein deficiency) affects the immune system and intellectual and physical performance. This is especially dangerous with children.
The traditional medicine has in the rural areas a high priority, there are also many traditional healers who reject modern medicine. In many cases, traditional remedies can be dangerous, but the positive possibilities of using medicinal plants in medicine have not yet been well researched. Traditionally, toxic medicinal plants are often used for poisoning, and there are still cases of murder due to poisoning. In the hospitals – including the better ones in Bujumbura – deaths often occur due to infrastructural problems such as power outages, a lack of staff or insufficient blood supplies. European specialists or their relatives are best flown to Kenya (Nairobi), Europe or Germany in the event of more difficult or unexplained illnesses.
At first, the Corona crisis hardly seemed to affect Burundi. But some doctors in the country warned against an only apparent safety. The first Covid-19 patients were then registered at the end of March. Entrants have been obliged to a 14-day quarantine since mid-March. The first death related to the virus was reported in April 2020. Nonetheless, the Burundian government saw itself “under God’s protection” and did not consider measures to be taken against the spread to be necessary. Prayer seemed sufficient. Despite the global spread and the lack of containment by the government under Nkurunziza, the pandemic remains under the new president relatively little dangerous. Scientists around the world are puzzling why the new type of coronavirus does not trigger as high an infection rate in Africa as it does in Europe or the USA, for example.
