Africa

Burkina Faso

Location

Western Africa, north of Ghana.

Landlocked and desperately poor. Incidents involving armed groups stopping vehicles to rob them in various parts of the country. Street crime poses high risks for visitors. Weapons (various), vehicle security, personal security, military checkpoints, general travel, navigation, off road driving, hot weather injuries, personal hygiene, sanitation/sterilisation, clothing & equipment, emergency first aid, helicopter safety, cultures/customs, communications, emergency shelters.
For women: trousers are disapproved of on the grounds of being mannish.

Bottled or boiled water only.

Mostly flat to dissected, undulating plains; hills in west and south-east. Dry arid grassland, few roads to travel on.

Tropical; warm, dry winters; hot, wet summers.

Recurring droughts.

Avian influenza, bacterial and protozoal diarrhoea, bilharzia, cholera, hepatitis A, HIV/AIDS, malaria, meningococcal meningitis (strains A, C, W135), polio, rabies, river blindness sleeping sickness, schistosomiasis, typhoid fever, yellow fever.
Hospital: Clinique Notre Dame de la Paix, BP5666, Tanghin secteur 24, Ouagadougou. Tel: 362640

Recent droughts and desertification severely affecting agricultural activities, population distribution, and the economy; overgrazing; soil degradation; deforestation.

Travel at night is not advised. Roads are poor with few street lights. There are risks of banditry and hitting stray livestock. Vehicles do not always have headlights and are often in unsound mechanical condition.

Hostile Environments and Emergency First Aid Training (HEFAT®) (5 days)
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