Agenzia Fides

Bissau (Agenzia Fides) - A dramatic urgent appeal to send drugs for tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS in Guinea Bissau, but also to have skilled technical personnel that "contributes to the assessment of the current health situation in the country" was launched by the Bishop of Bissau, His Exc. Mgr. José Camnate Na Bissign. The note sent to Fides Agency by the Curia of Bissau stresses that the coup d'état in Guinea Bissau on April 12 last year caused, among the many consequences, a further impoverishment of the country and its people.
The international isolation that the country is experiencing has caused a shortage of medicines for tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS. This situation, classified as "extremely serious", is shared by the Ministry of Health and Social Solidarity, by the Diocese of Bafatà and Bissau, by the Hospital for Leprosy (Catholic Mission of Cumura), by Raoul Follereau Hospital, and all those who are fighting to try to alleviate the suffering of these people who have already suffered so much.
Mgr. Camnate Na Bissign, in his letter on September 18, said: "I am very concerned because no one knows how long this political and diplomatic isolation of Guinea-Bissau could last. And who will pay the consequences of this new crisis will be, as always, the most vulnerable groups (the sick, children, women and the elderly). To avoid the worst, we need someone to help us to develop an emergency plan." (SL) (Agenzia Fides 24/09/2012)