n early 2022, the area of Ippy in the centre of the country experienced renewed clashes between rebel groups and government troops supported by allied forces. Fleeing violence, thousands of people from rural villages rushed to Ippy town and the sites for internally displaced people (IDP) that popped up there in recent months and years.



In February, MSF sent an team to Ippy to provide emergency medical support. In the emergency phase, we built 269 latrines, installed water points and organised distributions of soap and jerry cans. The installation of water points increased access to drinking water from just 1.6 litres per person per day to 15 litres.



When other organisations arrived and were able to take over the management of these facilities, MSF teams focused their support on two local health facilities in order to deal with the most complex medical cases for children and pregnant women, particularly at risk. In just two months, 381 children were hospitalised with MSF support, most of them with severe malaria. Our teams also provided medical care for 31 women with pregnancy complications, performed 20 C-sections and referred a dozen patients to Bambari for more critical care. MSF also launched a vaccination campaign to provide basic protection for diseases like measles, polio, yellow fever, meningitis and tuberculosis to nearly 20,000 children under the age of 10, as well as to 9,000 pregnant women. The vaccination drive also included immunisation against COVID-19.



In May 2022, the situation was a bit calmer and residents of the IDP sites started to return to their villages or settle in town. But the need in the region remain massive as, way before the latest waves of displacement, access to healthcare services and water were already limited. In a way, the situation in Ippy mirrors the reality of many other areas in CAR, where decades of intermittent conflict have fueled one of the world’s most critical situations in terms of life expectancy, maternal mortality, malnutrition and lack of access to healthcare.