Centre Neuropsychiatrique van Kamenge

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Information about this hopital

Description

The psychiatric centre of the Brothers of Charity in Burundi is less well equipped than that in Ndera. It numbers 60 beds (30 for men and 30 for women) and the occupancy level is 92%. They also have 150 to 200 outpatients every month. The centre has 60 members of staff, including 3 generalists. The hospital also organises consultations in the prison as part of a project by the Italian branch of Caritas International Assistance. There is a CDS section joined to the centre where 20–30 psychiatric patients go every day. This psychiatric hospital was previously financed as a Caraes project (partly financed) for assistance for psychiatric projects.
The management wishes to continue working with the mobile teams. This is entirely in line with the decentralisation policy of the Burundian government. The mobile teams do 2-day terrain missions in which they visit mentally ill patients in a district hospital. There is also further training for the 12–15 people who belong to the mobile teams. This training is given by our AZV psychiatrist. The mornings are set aside for training, whilst the afternoons are used for consultations in the hospital and, if necessary, case studies. If the teams were to be set up, the psychiatrist would also be able to attend a terrain visit for two days in order to assess the working methods.
(P.S.: Louis Michel, Belgian Minister for Foreign Affairs, visited the CNPK in 2004. This was part of the projects which the partner is developing with Doctors without Borders (‘Artsen zonder Grenzen’/MSF). He was full of admiration for the efforts being made in Burundi in the field of psychiatry and he has congratulated the partner on several occasions for its commitment to the poorest of the poor. It was a great day for the centre and a confirmation of the work which is being produced.

Results of the missions

The assessment mission reported that the partnership with a Burundian psychiatric institution was working well. There has been a general improvement in comparison with 2 years ago and an improvement in the knowledge and skills of the local staff thanks to the partnership with MWV. Both the local partner and MWV have the feeling that progress is being made. Protocols and treatments still need to be further harmonised and pharmacological knowledge also needs to be further refined. This is planned for 2008. The partner has stated that with three missions a year we have reached the limit of the absorption capacity of the hospital and the staff.

Missions in this hospital

Active missions in Centre Neuropsychiatrique van Kamenge

Past missions inCentre Neuropsychiatrique van Kamenge