MSF AUSTRALIA | MALI 2016

In 2016 Médecins Sans Frontières continued to run a long-standing paediatric program in southern Mali

In Koutiala district, southern Mali, Médecins Sans Frontières has run a comprehensive paediatric program since 2009, aimed at reducing the morbidity and mortality of children under the age of five. In 2016, 7,032 children were admitted to the paediatric ward and 3,829 to the nutrition ward of the Médecins Sans Frontières-supported regional referral hospital in Koutiala. Teams also supported paediatric and nutrition activities in five health centres across the district, carrying out 90,203 outpatient consultations and treating 3,779 children for malnutrition. In these five health zones, a preventative “package” of health measures is implemented for all children under the age of two, including routine follow-up consultations, distribution of mosquito nets and supplementary foods, and vaccinations. This year, a total of 7,723 children benefited from the package.

Our teams also provide seasonal malaria chemoprophylaxis to children in Koutiala, with an average of 171,000 children receiving antimalarial drugs in each round in 2016. The process of handing over the SMC activities to the Ministry of Health began during the year.

The security situation in northern Mali remains unstable despite a peace agreement. In Timbuktu, unrest that began with a coup in 2012 resulted in thousands of people fleeing the region, including some medical staff. As people began to return to the city towards the end of 2016, Médecins Sans Frontières initiated a progressive handover of all its activities in the regional referral hospital to the Ministry of Health.

In December 2016 a new project was launched in Ténénkou, in the centre of the country, where maternal mortality is particularly high. We opened an outpatient clinic and began supporting the Ténénkou referral health centre for women and adolescent girls.

Teams also supported paediatric and nutrition activities in five health centres across the district, carrying out 90,203 outpatient consultations and treating 3,779 children for malnutrition.

KEY ACTIVITIES: Malaria care, nutrition care, paediatrics, primary healthcare

FIELD STAFF: 544

FUNDING: $2,400,000

KEY MEDICAL FIGURE: 171,000 children received seasonal malaria chemoprophylaxis