Central African Republic's healthcare crisis – in pictures

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Political turmoil in the Central African Republic following a March coup by Séléka, a coalition of armed opposition groups, has created a healthcare crisis. Hospitals have been looted and staff have fled, leaving an already vulnerable population with no access to medical care. With the drug supply system disrupted and food insecurity exacerbated by a poor harvest, malaria is on the rise and there are fears of increased malnutrition. Médecins sans Frontières has scaled up its presence in an attempt to ease the situation
• Malaria crisis in post-coup Central African Republic

  • Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) conducts a mobile clinic in Benzambi, the rural heartland of deposed president François Bozizé’s support. It is estimated that 80% of the country’s population is living in the bush following the rebel offensive, which decimated the health system. Without doctors, medicines or medical supplies, the majority of people in the Central African Republic have no access to healthcare
    MSF in CAR: Mobile clinic for checking for malaria and malnutrition

  • Rene Redeibona is brought to the MSF clinic by his mother, Felicite, and father, Maximinis. Rene, who is one-year old and has been living in the bush with his family since the coup, is found to weigh only 5kg; he is suffering from severe malnutrition and malaria as well as a respiratory infection. Rene was subsequently transferred to the MSF hospital in Bossangoa for in-patient treatment
    MSF in CAR: Mobile clinic for checking for malaria and malnutrition

  • Evelyne Komokoina, 17, has brought her son, Albert, aged seven months, for malaria treatment. The family has been living in the bush since their village, Botengue, was burned by the Pul tribe after the coup. On 11 July, Kristalina Georgieva, the European commissioner for humanitarian aid and crisis response, will visit the Central African Republic with UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs Valerie Amos
    MSF in CAR: treatment for malaria

  • A malaria testing kit. Malaria is the leading cause of death in the Central African Republic, while malnutrition and preventable diseases are also rife. Medical workers are seeing alarming numbers of malaria cases, which are 33% higher than for the same period last year. ‘We are facing one of the worst years in terms of the impact of the disease,’ said Ellen van der Velden, MSF’s head of mission in the country
    MSF in CAR: Malaria testing kit and other supplies

  • Tecle Kpaoulena, five, was bitten by a snake as he slept in the bush. In the absence of healthcare, he was treated only with traditional remedies until his parents heard of the MSF mobile clinic. He was quickly transferred to the Bossangoa hospital for urgent treatment. In March, UN agencies and NGOs appealed for funding to meet the Central African Republic’s healthcare crisis; so far, just 31% has been disbursed
    MSF in CAR: Boy bitten by snake

  • Epaphrasse, also five, at Bossangoa hospital, where he is receiving treatment for severe malnutrition brought on by living in the bush. He was brought to hospital by his mother, Pelagie Yambala, 36, who says he has been sick since March
    MSF in CAR: Epaphrasse is being treated for severe malnutrition at Bossangoa hospital

  • A child is treated for malnutrition and malaria at Bossangoa hospital. MSF has called on the international community – including the UN, the EU and the African Union – to increase support to the Central African Republic. The organisation also wants the humanitarian community to maintain its commitment to the country, regardless of the current political and security situation
    MSF in CAR: MSF in-patient ward

  • A patient with a gunshot wound receives treatment after arriving at Bossangoa hospital in the night. With no electricity available, doctors are forced to work by torchlight
    MSF in CAR: MSF treats a gunshot wound
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