A Community Guide to Environmental Health-Book. Appendix C.
In 1989, the Republic of Benin was facing a great social and
economical crisis. Civil servants of all the sectors in public
administration were on strike. People did not know where to
go for their health care. Salaries were not paid for more than
six months and life for the general population wa...s very dificult.
The country was about to degenerate into civil war as a
result of the civil unrest in the country.
Thanks to the assistance from the French, and Canadian
and American Mennonite missionaries, the Bethesda Health
Centre was started in 1990 with US$ 1,000 granted by theses
partners. Today, the Health Centre of Bethesda has expanded
and has become a large Hospital in Cotonou. It hosts each
year about 100,000 patients and has developed the department
of paediatrics, ophthalmology, stomatology, cardiology,
obstetrical gynaecology, X-rays, etc. The Hospital has also
put in place an AIDS service which has been promoted by the
government to the status of an AIDS Treatment Centre.
In an integrated vision, Bethesda has established other departments.
In 1993, the Sanitation department was established
to implement sanitation and environmentally-friendly
projects aimed at reducing the high incidence of some diseases
frequently treated at the hospital. In 1996, the decision
was made to establish a micro-inance department called
PEBCo. This initiative, which currently has 10,000 clients,
uses community savings to promote income-generating activities.
Since many women were obliged to use the loans for
family needs (health care, children schooling, etc.), they were
unable to reimburse them as planned. Hence the Bethesda
non-government organization (NGO) recently began an initiative
to provide a community-based health insurance option
for the population in 2006. There are now 12,000 members.
This paper focuses on the presentation of Benin and the program,
but also describes how the project could be better improved
and what were its beneits and impacts.
Field Actions Science Reports
The journal of field actions
Vol. 4 | 2010
Vol. 4
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VOICES # 6
CapacityPlus: Serving health workers saves lives
Health Policy. 2010 Dec;98(2-3):91-7. doi: 10.1016/j.healthpol.2010.06.004. Epub 2010 Jul 16. Only Abstract available. Please write to the Author to get the full-text
Full eHandbook under: http://www.msh.org/resources/health-systems-in-action-an-ehandbook-for-leaders-and-managers
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Health Population and Nutrition Sector Development Programme (HPNSDP)
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• Provide a national framework to certify health establishments as compliant with standards
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Climate change is a verified, global phenomenon, but its consequences will not be evenly distributed. Developing countries and small island nations will be the most affected. Countries will experience more frequent extreme weather events and resulting changes in water quality and availability, incre...ased contamination of air, and food security problems. Health impact due to climate change include diarrhoeal diseases, vector-borne diseases, heat stress, malnutrition, deaths and injuries due to extreme weather events and mental stress.
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