Local Nurse Returns Home to Fight HIV/AIDS

Charles Kambou, nurse at Dispensarie Oradora, Banfora, Burkina Faso

For the past five years, local resident Charles Kambou has been working as a nurse for the Dispensarie Oradora in the Banfora province of Burkina Faso. After receiving formal training as a public health doctor in the capital, Ouagadougou, Kambou brushed aside the promise of a high-paying job in one of the many urban centers in order to return home and work in Oradora, following in the footsteps of his mother.

Kambou now focuses on HIV/AIDS prevention and fighting tuberculosis in the Banfora region. This region serves as a crossroads between war-weary Côte D'Ivoire and impoverished Mali; it is seen by many as a regional focal point in the spread of infectious diseases on account of its transient and increasingly vulnerable population.

"I decided to come back to this area because I like taking care of people," stated Kambou. "I really enjoy going into the field for sensitizations and village-based meetings. My current work zone covers nearly 40 villages in both rural and semi-urban settings, comprising a total of approximately 150,000 people."

There are presently two local associations working in the small town of Oradora to raise awareness on HIV/AIDS and make condoms accessible. Kambou is working through these organizations to dispel widely held but erroneous beliefs about the disease. "Rural people believe that the disease comes from town and afflicts only dirty and immoral people," noted Kambou. "Because of this stigmatization, and the widespread belief that AIDS is untreatable, many people do not get tested because of the fear that they will die after a few month of ostracism."

However, this fear is realistically justified by the fact that there are currently not enough anti-retrovirals in the country to treat even the small number of people who have tested positive. When the drugs are available, they are obtainable only in a couple of major cities at a cost of 5,000 cfa ($9.10) per month, prohibitively expensive for many people infected with HIV/AIDS.

"There is usually one government-funded dispensery (pharmacy) per village, although none yet sell any anti-retrovirals," stated Kambou. "While there is nothing for the HIV-positive in Oradora at the moment, the government is planning on making drugs more accessible, and maybe by October anti-retrovirals will be available in this region."

Kambou is also working at a three-month-old HIV/AIDS testing center in Oradora. Despite the fact that only two people have come to be tested since its opening, Kambou is very positive about the changes he has seen in people's understanding of the disease. "People are slowly changing minds and behavior," said Kambou. "A few years ago even educated people didn't want people to talk about sex in front of them."

Much of this positive momentum is made possible by inroads Kambou and others have made with religious institutions which hold a great degree of influence in many areas. Participatory trainings have been held with several Muslim and Christian leaders in the community, and Kambou has increasingly found some vocal allies in this traditionally disconnected and resistant field.

The rural village where Charles Kambou performs his work

"An imam from a local mosque approached me who wanted to remarry a woman whose husband was suspected to have died from AIDS," related Charles. "The imam's other wives were very concerned about this and asked the imam to have her tested before he married her. The imam went with his prospective wife to the clinic in Bobo-Dioulasso. They both tested negative and were married soon after."

"Normally religious leaders don't really believe in AIDS. We have tried to involve the religious leaders in our work, and a number have been trained. Some talk about prevention, but always there is God in it."

Kambou also noted that most people in rural areas do not go to the hospital first when they are sick; instead, they consult with traditional healers. Some traditional doctors in the region think that complex illness like AIDS are simply the result of bad luck, or that the spirits of angry ancestors are causing many of the associated symptoms. Sick patients are often told to make a sacrifice or consume local remedies.

Some organizations of pharmacists are currently training many of these traditional doctors, helping them to recognize the symptoms of the disease (pharmacists are often the front lines of health care in Africa, since they will offer advice for free). This has been effective in other areas of the country, where traditional healers will refer some patients to the local hospital when they suspect that AIDS is to blame for a patient's illness.

These innovative approaches, combined with animations and village meetings, are starting to make a positive impact, according to Kambou, and he is becoming more optimistic as people are more willing to freely discuss the subject. Most telling, Kambou states, is that the limited statistics available in his region suggest that there has been a "lowering AIDS rate, from around ten percent to seven."

Charles Kambou is also planning for his own future. He is hoping to save enough money to earn a medical doctorate in epidemiology. If he completes this course of study and returns to Oradora, his specialty would make him a tremendously valuable asset to the community.

If you are interested in communicating with Mr. Kambou or helping him to pay for his medical schooling, feel free to write:

Charles Kambou
Dispensarie Oradora
Oradora, Burkina Faso
West Africa


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