At the crossroads of health, water and sanitation in Niger
My name is Mourtala Abdou and I am a community health worker in charge of the healthcare facility in the village of Niakatiré in the commune of Makalondi, Niger.
Every day that I work I receive and treat patients. The biggest challenges that I face at on a daily basis are the hygiene of the premises, the sensitization of my community and the care of the patients.
What I most enjoy
The aspect of my work that I most enjoy is raising awareness about hygiene. The improvements I’d like to see in the future in terms of biomedical waste management and environmental cleaning in healthcare is the construction of an incinerator at the facility – in most healthcare facilities, especially in villages, waste is disposed of through open burning. Also, in terms of general needs for our healthcare facility, I would like to have a birthing room for the community.
Working at the crossroads
My work is at the crossroads of health, water and sanitation. I recently participated in a workshop on biomedical waste management and environmental cleaning. We were provided with a series of tools to improve water, sanitation and hygiene services as part of the larger goal of improving health care facilities.
We are trying hard now to get the community to participate in the management of the healthcare facility. Little by little the community is getting more involved.