055

The central level which consists of the managements and central structures organized around the Minister’s office and the General secretary office;
The intermediate level, which consists of Health regional managements that are actually around 13;
The peripheral level, which is represented by the sanitary districts – operational entities that are the most decentralized of the national health system and that number around 55.

The public care structures are organized in three levels that assure the primary, secondary and tertiary cares.

The first level is represented by the Sanitary District. It comprises two step operators:
The first step operator for care is the Center of health and social betterment (CSPS), which is the basic health structure of the system and therefore the proximity service;
The second step operator for care is the Health center with mobile surgical unit (CMA), which intervenes per referral from the sanitary entity of the district.
The second level is represented by the regional hospital center (CHR), which intervenes per referral from CMA.
The third level consists of the university hospital center, which is the most referenced for all the specialized needs.

In spite of important endeavors of the government to ensure a better health care of the population, the quality of the care provided remains weak. From this observation, the Ministry of Health undertook the review of national health policy (PSN) in 2000 and worked out a national plan for health development (PNDS) in 2001.

The PNDS program is the mirror of PSN set for over the period 2001 to 2010. The program is funded It is financed by the State's budget, resources arising from the debt relief (HIPC), foreign resources and the contribution of the population with tax collections. The intermediate objectives of the PNDS are to:

Increase the national health coverage;
Improve the quality and use of health services;
Reinforce the fight against non transmissible and transmissible diseases;
Reduce the transmission of the HIV, whereof the which has a seroprevalence amounts to 2%;
Develop human resources in health;
Improve the financial accessibility by populations to the health services;
Increase the financing of the health sector;

The most recurrent pathologies are respiratory infections, malaria, diarrheic diseases notably.

Therefore, the governmental action focuses specifically on strengthening health coverage and accessibility to medicines, fighting against disease and ensuring health of mothers and children.

Regarding the access to medicines, the government action consists of providing all new CSPS with kits of Essential Generic Medicine (MEG) to. Besides, to guarantee the free preventive care for pregnant women and children under 5 years, all health programs received medicines and consumables for an amount of 466.83 millions of francs CFA, as much as the expansion of vaccine coverage.

The disease combat in 2006 was marked by the strengthening of measures for the prevention and adequate cure of meningitis cases and for an access to free treatment.

Furthermore, fighting against the serious malaria gets a particular attention from the Government. All reference structures received medicines for emergency cases and insecticide treated window screens.

Regarding the fight against HIV/AIDS, important endeavors have helped increase the number of voluntary screening centers, which has gone from 93 in 2005 to 114, and resulted in the creation of a technical committee of epidemiological monitoring. The caring actions have allowed 12,842 persons living with the HIV to receive ARV treatment in 60 medical caring structures. The efforts convergence from all Burkinabé actors involved in the fight against the plague and thanks to with the support of the international community have allowed the prevalence rate of the HIV/AIDS to decrease by 2.2 in 2001 to 2 % now.

The part of the budget dedicated to health expenses which have remained for a long time below the WHO level of 10 %, has crossed this threshold to reach in 2005 a rate of 11.77 %.