Health

Compaoré personally promoted HIV/ AIDS programs

Burkina Faso was ranked as the No.1 African leader and among the Top 10 of developing countries worldwide in 2010, in terms of reaching the U.N. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of 1/access to drinking water supply, 2/ reducing extreme poverty and hunger and 3/ HIV/Aids

Under Compaoré, the country dramatically exceeded the Millennium Development Goal N°6 to halt the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Prevalence of HIV/Aids which reached 7.2 % in 1997 has fallen to 2 % in 2006 and below 1 % since 2012 until his departure.

Since its creation in 2001, Compaoré, headed the National Council on Aids and Sexually Transmitted Diseases (CNLS-IST). Genuinely involved, he presided all its meetings.

In 2002, Compaoré himself also participated in an anti-AIDS poster awareness campaign with the slogan :

“ It concerns me … And what about you ? ”

President Compaoré posing for the HIV AIDS Awareness Campaign with a HIV positive woman

In 1998, Burkina Faso adopted a multi-sectoral, decentralized and participatory approach that involved every sector in the national fight against HIV/AIDS.

Via its Successive Strategic Framework Programmes 2001-2005, 2006-2010 and 2011-2015, the CNLS-IST invested respectively 88,6 billion FCFA ($ 135 million), 181,7 billion FCFA ($ 277 million) and 178,4 billion FCFA ($ 272 million), i.e. a global amount of 448,7 billion FCFA ($ 684 million). These Strategic Framework Programmes of a national response to HIV/AIDS, were developed within the scope of a participative think-tank, which included every multi-sectoral player at national and provincial level in addition to the technical and financial partners.

As a result, a remarkable drop in HIV/AIDS prevalence was recorded over a ten-year span and between 2000 and 2012, the use of contraceptive methods had tripled.

In 2013, 87.14 % of the people living with HIV were receiving antiretrovirals (ARVs).

Maternal mortality declined by 30% between 2005 and 2014

Subsidies for childbirth and obstetrics services, free prenatal counseling and important investments to improve healthcare cut maternal mortality by 30 % between 2005 and 2014 and by 60 % between 1990 and 2014.

During more than a decade, the Compaoré administration significantly invested in building primary health care centers in rural areas. During the period 1990 to 2011, the percentage of qualified nurses per inhabitants has risen sharply coming close to the WHO (98.9 % of WHO standards).

Childbirth assisted by a nurse nearly doubled from 42.9 % in 2005 to 78.3 % in 2011.
Between 2008 and 2010, the government budget for emergency obstetric and neonatal care increased by 2.3 times.

From 2012 on, breast and cervical cancer awareness campaigns with breast self-exams were launched by the Compaoré administration at the Universities of Ouagadougou.

Water supply, a success story

Development partners considered urban water supply in Burkina Faso one of the rare development success stories in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The World Bank and USAID considered the national water utility (ONEA) one of the best performing water utilities in Sub-Saharan Africa.

In 2003, Burkina Faso entered the group of leading countries that promote sustainable and equitable development and management of water, land and related resources.

In 2008, access to an improved water source in urban areas was 95% compared to 73% in 1990.  And, in rural areas 72% of the population had access to water in 2008.

Since 2010, water supply that used to be intermittent was continuous until his departure.

The Compaoré administration launched vaccination nationwide and beyond

In 2013, 98 % of children received free vaccination, in comparison to 44 % in 2004.

Child mortality under five years old decreased from an average of 123 per 1,000 in 1990 to 73 children per 1,000 in 2013.

In December 2010, 12 million children and young adults aged between 1-29 were vaccinated against meningitis A.

Blaise Compaoré, patron of the new vaccine MenAfriVac used his influence to create awareness about the importance of vaccination in other African nations, marking an important step in the elimination of meningitis A in the sub-region.

Healthcare standards remain poor

Burkina Faso still ranked 181 of 187 on the U.N. Development Program’s 2014 human development index. After Compaoré’s departure, Burkina Faso’s human development index even went down to the very bottom : ranking 185 of the 187 countries in UNDP’s 2016 Human Development Report.

The percentage of qualified doctors, midwives and pharmacists per inhabitants were still far behind WHO standards to be respectively 45 %, 39 % and 20 % of WHO standards.