The Niger

A Nation forgotten by the Gods?

This French-speaking Country is amongst the poorest of the planet: 11.6 M inhabitants live in this huge desert territory enclosed within the sub-saharian region.

The economy is limited to agriculture and breeding for living and also in Uranium mining.

Constant droughts, land turning into a desert, high increasing population and the world lowering demand in Uranium have bled the Country, no infrastructure, without basic services: food, water, medical, teaching, transport, communications, and so on…

Some stirring figures: in Niger the death rate for children under 5 is 28 % which means that one child out of three will not reach the age of 5; 50% of the population has contracted hepatitis B; devastating pandemics of tuberculosis, meningitis, poliomyelitis and dysentery.

Only a handful of doctors provide medical services in the cities ( 5 for the desert region of Aïr – 300 000 inhabitants, against 1000 for the equivalent population in France) they are insufficiently trained, without equipments, medicines, means of communication and transport.

Giving back hope…

Two orthopedic surgeons for the whole country! In such a context, a simple fracture, a malformation means handicap and sufferings for life, badly reducing chances of survival in that surrounding. Life expectancy in Niger is 43.5 years (79.6 in France).

Thousands of children are registered on waiting lists in a hypothetical hope that one day some surgeon would deliver them from their terrible ordeal.

Thanks to the help of the Monaco Red Cross and under Dr. Tristan Lascar supervision (Orthopedic surgeon at the CHPG) and to Philippe Repiquet, who have participated in 10 evaluation missions consisting in sending multidisciplinary teams to Niger. In addition to the surgery of 250 patients, these missions have allowed a detailed evaluation of the situation and the needs in orthopedic surgery.

The needs are tremendous: consequences of poliomyelitis, ill-reduced fractures, bone necrosis due to drepanocytosis or moreover some 5000 children suffering from bone malformations caused by the consumption of waters overloaded with fluorides.

These children are unequally armed to fight for survival. If this is as unbearable for you as it is for us, then let’s help them! For the price of a meal you can give hope back to a child.