BURKINA FASO: URGENT HOSPITAL RELOCATION

C O N F I D E N T I A L OUAGADOUGOU 000869

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/30/2019
TAGS: EAID EAGR PGOV MASS PHUM MCAP PREL UV
SUBJECT: BURKINA FASO: URGENT HOSPITAL RELOCATION
ASSISTANCE NEEDED.

REF: A. OUAGADOUGOU 694

B. OUAGADOUGOU 753

C. OUAGADOUGOU 815

D. OUAGADOUGOU 816

Classified By: CDA Samuel C. Laeuchli for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. Summary. (U) The Government of Burkina Faso has requested
U.S. assistance in providing temporary relocation facilities
for the country's primary hospital. Post recommends the
Department, USAID and the U.S. Africa Command give serious
consideration to the request. End Summary.


2. (C) During a 16th September meeting with DAS Fitzgerald
and the Charge, Prime Minister Tertius Zongo asked whether
Burkina Faso could quickly obtain pre-fabricated field
hospitals from the United States. The University Hospital of
Yalgado (CHU-YO, the major Ouagadougou hospital),was
severely damaged by the September 1st floods. Replacement
structures are needed urgently to handle health care demands
as little or no other options exist in Burkina Faso to meet
specialized health care needs. On September 28th post
received an official written request (dated September 25)
from the Prime Minister detailing the damage to the Yalgado
Hospital, outlining plans to relocate, and soliciting U.S.
assistance.


2. (SBU) On September 29th, at the request of the Prime
Minister, Minister of Health (MOH) Seydou Bouda met with
Charge to follow-up on and further discuss the request for
USG assistance in relocating the CHU-YO. He explained that
the GOBF had a preference for pre-fabricated hospital
building structures (citing hot weather and rain as the
rationale),but said that air conditioned tents, or converted
containers might also be options worth exploring. While the
hospital plans presented to us show 25 individual structures,
when pressed, Bouda said that, if necessary, they could
prioritize needs and make do with just eight units. Those
structures would contain wards that could not be transferred
elsewhere (either because of high level of specialization or
sheer number of patients.) The essential bare minimum
service that would be relocated are: pediatrics and
obstetrical services, the trauma unit, internal medicine,
urology, the laboratory, pharmacy and imagery unit(housing
the scanner, MRI, radiology.) The MOH offered that "he had
no doubts the U.S. Army can carry this out", and said that at
present there was no other donor or international
organization on the horizon to fund this emergency project.


3. (SBU) Bouda told us that the GOBF had already started
working on the project and that bulldozers had leveled the
ground surface, water and electricity infrastructure were
being developed, and the connection to the telephone lines
had been requested. Bouda asked that the USG consider
funding, even partially, this relocation project, and
requested that a team of medical planners come quickly to
Ouagadougou to look at the feasibility of the project and
offer input on technical solutions and financing venues.


4. (SBU) COMMENT: Post recommends the Department, USAID and
the U.S. Africa Command give serious consideration to this
request. The hospital relocation project is obviously an
important issue for the GOBF and one that has traction at the
highest echelons of the government. Consensus among donors
and the GOBF is that the CHU-YO is inoperable in its current
state and will need at minimum two to three years to be
rehabilitated. As a result, a viable alternative solution
needs to be found in order to ensure that adequate medical
services, especially in specialized fields, are available in
the capital city (Note: CHU-YO is the National Reference
Facility for Burkina Faso. End Note.)


5. (SBU) Post has discussed assistance options with the
TDY-USAID/OFDA officer and understands that this type of
project is not only outside of the OFDA's mandate, but also
not feasible via USAID's Office of American Schools and
Hospitals (ASHA). Post has also learned that the World Health
Organization (WHO-Burkina Faso) is not planning on engaging
with the GOBF on this project other than by supplying
technical assistance and emergency medical kits. At this
time, obtaining assistance from U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM)
may be one of the last options available. Humanitarian
assistance at this juncture would be much appreciated by
Burkina Faso, and would help cement the command's credentials
as offering broad based solutions to the continent's
problems. END COMMENT.


6. (SBU) The following is an unofficial translation of the
Prime Minister's request for U.S. assistance.

Excellency Mister Ambassador,

I would like to renew my gratitude, as well as that of the
Burkinabe Government, for all the help you have given the
populations who were rendered homeless as a result of the
September 1, 2009 floods, and also bring to your attention
the situation in which the University Hospital Center of
Yalgado (CHU-YO) finds itself in.

The CHU-YO was hit hard by the September 1st floods and all
29 units/wards were completely put out of service. The
hardest hit were: urology, pneumonology, infectious diseases,
scanner, dialysis, dermatology, neurology, cardiology,
trauma, neuro-surgery, bacteriology,
anesthesiology/reanimation and ER. In all of these units,
the diagnostic equipment was submerged by water, medical
supplies and office equipment were almost totally lost.
Archives and patient files are unsalvageable, now no records
exist for all of these wards/units. For the moment, experts
are working alongside our teams to evaluate the extent of the
damage.

In order to ensure the continuity of health care services,
and in order to continue to be on-call, the Government of
Burkina Faso has decided to temporarily move the CHU-YO to
several sites including the National Laboratory for Public
Health (LNSP),Notre-Dame of Fatima Welcome Center
(tuberculoses and HIV/AIDS) in sector 30, and the NGO Better
Life (facial surgery) in sector 24.

I am contacting you, in the name of the Burkinabe
Government, to solicit assistance from your country in order
to accomplish this temporary relocation of services, as well
as the rehabilitation of the destroyed Hospital Center. The
map detailing the move plans has been attached. The
relocation plan will allow 27 of the 29 wards/units to be
moved, and will offer 360 beds out of the original 700 beds.

(Salutations)
Tertius Zongo
LAEUCHLI