When stocks of medical equipment in the general ward of Tengandogo University hospital in Ouagadougou ran low as resources flowed to the coronavirus unit, medical staff bought the essentials themselves. Blood pressure monitors, glucose monitors and oximeters were needed. Even the ink in the printers had to be replaced. The hospital closed to non-Covid patients during Burkina Faso’s first wave in March but reopened in July to treat the numerous other illnesses that affect the population of approximately 20 million people. Without any emergency budget for resources, doctors faced a challenge. Tengandogo is one of Burkina Faso’s leading health institutions. It’s a private facility that treats the country’s most critical patients, but since March it has treated people with coronavirus without charge.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN