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An. R. Acad. Nac. Farm., 2009, 75 (3): 365-372

ARTÍCULO

Implementing a dispensary in a rural area in
Benin. Comparison between the new private
centre and the old public centre’s
consultation

Jose Luis Álvarez 1 *, Ruth Gil 1, Julia Aguiar 2, Claude Zinsou 2,
Ángel Gil 1

1 Area of Preventive Medicine and Public Health.
University Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid. Spain.
2 Centre Sanitaire et Nutritionnel Gbemontin, Zagnanado. Benin.
Recibido el 1 de abril de 2009.

ABSTRACT

We present an example of a busy dispensary that provides
nutritional care, outpatient services for all ages, treatment for
medical emergencies, surgery and long term hospitalisation in a rural
area of western Africa already covered by local tertiary care centres.
We compare the different diagnoses in our dispensary in Zagnanado
(Benin) and the public centres of the region. The main change
observed is the success of the integration of a new private health
centre that is fully equipped and ready to assist the population. The
increasing demand and sustained investments have brought the
patients to consider this dispensary as a reference for all health
problems. We can see that private health care is essential to
accurately estimate the burden of disease in developing countries
not only in preventive and curative care but also in health education,
which is essential in such settings and often not taken into
consideration.

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