A hospital in Mali
Episode 1: Off to Koutiala
Luca: I’m in Bamako in Mali. My name is Luca and I’m from Belgium. I’m taking you to Koutiala in the south of the country where Médecins Sans Frontières is building a new paediatric unit. Why has MSF decided to build a hospital in Mali? Come with me and I’ll explain.
[Musique]
Luca: Becaye isn’t just any driver. Ten years ago, when MSF first came to Koutiala to look into opening a project, Becaye did the driving. Do you remember what the hospital looked like the first time you saw it?
[Becaye Diarra, driver]
Becaye: It’s changed a lot. Back then it was an old hospital dating back to around 1960. The newly constructed buildings make it look completely different.
[Musique]
[Adiaratou Dakono, deputy manager medical activities, MSF]
Adiaratou: This is MSF’s admissions department. Almost all children under the age of five years in Koutiala health district come to this hospital.
[Marie-Hortense Nkokolo, medical coordinator, MSF]
Marie: Malaria is one of the causes of child mortality in the area. Children who have malaria don’t eat enough, which can lead to malnutrition.
Adiaratou: So, let’s start with the triage zone, where the children are first examined to assess the severity of their cases. A doctor examines them in the consulting room. Then, depending on what’s wrong with them, they’re sent to the different departments: neonatal, malnutrition, and so on.
Luca: How many beds do you have here?
Adiaratou: 25 inpatient beds.
Luca: You were saying that the 25 beds we see here aren’t always enough. Are there others elsewhere?
Adiaratou: It isn’t enough. Up there, we have a few beds for paediatric cases, but with the peak of the malaria season there are lots of kids to treat. We can’t manage with such a small number of beds.
Marie: At the beginning, capacity was pretty much consistent with needs. We anticipated that, particularly during peak malaria season, we’d be able to manage with around 100 beds and the paediatric unit was set up with that in mind. But we soon realised that because Médecins Sans Frontières was providing free medical care, the unit was in high demand and there wasn’t enough room for all the children.
[next]
Hyppolite: As space is limited, we have to move some of our patients to the annexe.
Marie: It’s hard on the staff too, as they keep having to go back and forth between the two.
[Musique]
A HOSPITAL IN MALI - a series created by Michele Cattani
Presented by: Luca Putteman
Directed by: Luca Putteman & Michele Cattani
Filmed by: Michele Cattani
Script: Émilie Hay, Luca Putteman & Michele Cattani
Sound: Michele Cattani
Preparation: Luca Putteman & Émilie Hay
Production: Julie Santolini & Émilie Hay
Editing/Design: Loïc Adrien

The film crew would like to thank the staff at Koutiala hospital
for their time and input, as well as all those who participated
and contributed to the making of our series.
© Médecins Sans Frontières 2019