The SMOM association creates, in agreement with the Ministère de la Santé Publique of Burundi, a network of sustainable hospital services for the prevention and treatment of oral diseases in 18 Burundian provinces.
Establish, in agreement with the Ministry of Public Health and the Fight against AIDS of Burundi, a network of sustainable hospital services for the prevention and treatment of oral diseases, in 18 Burundian provinces.
Un projet de coopération au développement qui crée un système de santé national doté d'équipements durables et dirigé par les premiers spécialistes de la santé bucco-dentaire au Burundi diplômés de l'Université de Ngozi, d'un précédent projet SMOM, 2015-2021. Le Ministère burundais de la Santé Publique prendra en charge la gestion des dispensaires dès l'atteinte des objectifs de durabilité fixés dans le projet.
Résumé du projet
Ce projet de coopération au développement réalise un système national de santé doté d'équipements durable et animé par les premiers spécialistes en santé bucco-dentaire du Burundi diplômés de l'Université de Ngozi, issus d'un précédent projet SMOM, 2015-2021. Le Ministère burundais de la Santé Publique prendra en charge la gestion des dispensaires pour atteindre les objectifs de durabilité fixés dans le projet.
The goal is to improve the resilience and quality of life of Burundian communities by helping them with a network of preventive and therapeutic oral health facilities conducted by qualified local staff.
L’objectif du projet est d’accroître la résilience des populations en les aidant par un réseau de dispositifs préventifs et thérapeutiques pour les communautés.
Needs analysis.
The absence of public or private dentistry services in one of the poorest countries in the world causes the onset of oral pathologies with paroxysmal clinical phenomena, unimaginable to a European healthcare professional. The WHO classifies pharyngeal diseases as the fourth most important cause of disease due to the high prevalence of carious and periodontal diseases and the significant impact on general health. In Burundi there are serious oral diseases such as Burkitt's lymphoma or Noma which are devastating in the absence of treatments, which are usually resolutive. The gangrenous disease Noma disappeared in Europe from the closure of the concentration camps, affects children from 2 to 8 years old and causes the destruction of bone tissues, oral and perioral mucous membranes, involving the cheeks and nose with 80% mortality. The WHO reports every year from 90,000 to 140,000 cases worldwide, many of these do not arrive in hospitals that are too distant and expensive for those who live in the villages. The absence of medical specialists and the inequity of their distribution throughout the territory is dramatic. In 2018, there was one specialist for every million people in Burundi, but the more than 11 million rural areas lacked one. The project involves and accredits 33 specialists graduated from a SMOM project, largely financed by the Union of Methodist and Waldensian churches - Waldensian Evangelical Table. These specialists will be able to intervene with primary and secondary prevention programs in hospitals in rural areas. Oral pathologies historically in Burundi have been treated by general nurses who have learned in the field, by imitation, how to somehow pull out a tooth. Therefore there is a need to accredit Dental Therapists in their functions and allow Burundian hospitals to intervene for oral health. In Burundi there is a lack of suitable equipment, the few clinics equipped for conservative therapies have non-functioning units, often donated by charitable interventions that have limited themselves to 'donating' the good. The problem of instrument maintenance and the lack of trade in equipment in the country is another serious problem faced by this project.
Project activities
The various project activities accredit in the country, among the population, the presence of a new medical specialty, for the protection and treatment of oral diseases. After the agreement signed with the Burundian Ministère de la Santé Publique, exploratory missions are carried out in the various hospitals indicated by the Ministry to calibrate the instrumental intervention in relation to the environmental context. The hospital centers will be equipped taking into account the sustainability of the equipment provided. The specialist operator with the greatest skills will be selected, in concert with the director of the clinic involved in the intervention. Before starting the activity, the chosen operator will take a course to verify his professional preparation in the training center of the Ngozi hospital and will be assigned a Tutor. The operator will also be financially supported for the first 6 months of activity by SMOM, then it will be taken over by the hospital if the Health Department has appreciated the work done. During the first year of activity, specialist materials and drugs not available in Burundi will be guaranteed. The specialists will guarantee the necessary rehabilitation therapies and implement preventive education programs in the area, to reduce the prevalence of oral diseases and make the population aware of the presence of a care service capable of improving the quality of their life. Screening activities will be carried out to identify patients with the most serious pathologies and mislead them in the clinics where they will be treated, drawing the economic resources from the project budget. The provincial reference centers will also take care of promoting the training of the staff of the 'Center de Santé' and the opening of other preventive assistance centers.
The training of instrumentation repairers will be implemented.
1- The provincial reference hospitals will consist of 2 operating units: modern dental units or less technological equipment in relation to the plant contexts detected.
2- The dental centers of the provincial hospitals will activate dental services in district hospitals or in the 'Center de Santé' with simple equipment useful for ensuring primary and secondary prevention therapies.
3- Training courses will be held for managers and staff of the Center de Santé for the management of the donated equipment and for the prevention and screening activities that they will have to carry out. Particular attention will be paid to debilitating and / or fatal oral diseases such as NOMA
4- Handbooks will be produced for the use of materials for