Eric Mbonigaba recovered from smallpox after four weeks in hospital, but this Burundian motorcycle taxi driver says he has since fallen victim to the stigma surrounding the disease and risks losing his home and means subsistence.
He is one of the first people to be diagnosed with smallpox in Burundi and his problems highlight the challenges facing Africa’s second worst-affected country in its fight against the disease.
The father of two boys, aged three and seven, was released from hospital last month and returned home to Bujumbura, Burundi’s financial capital, but his landlady told him he had to leave.
“She refused to take my rent. I can be kicked out of the house at any time and I have nowhere to house my family,” Mbonigaba, 31, told Reuters.
Her facial scars, inherited from the pus-filled lesions caused by smallpox, tend to scare away customers. Many even refuse to greet him.
His case is not isolated.
Another patient was also threatened with eviction by his landlord, Mr Mbonigaba said.
Last month, a United Nations health official told Reuters that Burundi would be able to stem the outbreak within weeks if it could mobilize enough resources and tackle the stigma associated with smallpox. .
“If people are afraid and don’t want to come forward, it will take a long time,” said Paul Ngwakum, regional health adviser for East and Southern Africa at the United Nations health agency. childhood (UNICEF).
Burundi has recorded nearly 600 cases since July 25.
Mbonigaba said some of his friends chose to buy medicine and treat their symptoms secretly at home, flouting government rules that require smallpox patients to go to hospital to receive treatment. free treatment.
The government has not spoken publicly about the impact of stigma on the fight against smallpox. The health ministry spokesperson said it would “conduct an investigation” into the matter.
According to the World Health Organization, the disease has killed more than 800 people in Africa this year, most in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but none in Burundi.
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