Burundi
Country Overview
Burundi is a small, central African country of about 9 million people. Close to 90% of the population relies on subsistence agriculture for a living. Political instability, violence, and population shifts since 1993 have affected the economy and the health of Burundi’s citizens. The widespread lack of basic services, including education and health infrastructure, promotes the cycle of poverty and disease. Burundi is endemic with many of the most common neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). In particular, baseline mapping found that both schistosomiasis and hookworm are highly prevalent; in some districts over 40% of the population is afflicted.
Current Effort
While the African Programme for Onchocerciasis Control (APOC) has had a presence leading onchocerciasis control efforts in Burundi for a number of years, health systems were not in place until recently to diagnose and treat other NTDs. In 2007, Legatum—through Geneva Global—sponsored a three-year NTD control program in Burundi. From the beginning of the program, the Ministry of Health has demonstrated high-level interest in NTD control and sponsored a team to direct the effort. In the first year, this team established sustainable partnerships with the Schistosomiasis Control Initiative (SCI), Christian Blind Mission, and APOC. It also completed nationwide mapping and data collection—indicating that the entire population is at risk for both Soil-Transmitted Helminths (STHs) and trachoma—and initiated a number of treatment campaigns.
In collaboration with the Ministry of Health and UNICEF, the team dewormed over one million children and pregnant women in collaboration with the integrated biannual Mother and Child Health Week campaign, where vitamin A, immunizations, folate and bed-nets are also distributed. Including deworming in conjunction with other health interventions led to a marked increase in campaign attendance, suggesting a high demand for deworming services and highlighting the benefits of joint interventions.
In June 2008, the NTD team in Burundi conducted its first nationwide mass drug administration, where approximately 4.3 million Burundians received NTD treatment. In January 2009 despite a nationwide strike of the healthcare staff and a fuel shortage, the team provided a second round of treatment to 3.9 million children and post-partum mothers. December 2009 saw another round of mass drug administration reach 3.6 million children. As of the completion of year three of the program, over 16.7 million deworming treatments had been given across the country. Additionally, 1.6 million schistosomiasis treatments and several thousand trachoma treatments have been distributed. The team has also made achievements in training nearly 1500 drug distributors, lab technicians and program managers.
The Burundi NTD Control Program has made remarkable progress in cultivating leadership, building capacity, strengthening health systems, and generating program efficiency. Through strong collaboration with the government, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other partners, the program has leveraged monetary support from partners such as Feed the Children International, Food for the Hungry, UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO), and treated millions. The NTD program has built promising health infrastructures founded in human capital, prevention efforts and strong partnerships that have the potential to support many more years of deworming campaigns.
Remaining Gap
Like Rwanda, Burundi faces significant challenges due to gaps in health infrastructure. Burundi will also need financial assistance to ensure that the non-donated NTD treatments remain available beyond the termination of the current NTD control program. To support NTD control in Burundi, please click here.
