SOS Médias Burundi

Kirundo, June 24, 2025 — At Kirundo Hospital in northern Burundi, the tragic death of a pregnant woman highlights troubling medical negligence. This drama reveals staff shortages, corruption practices, and hospital management heavily criticized by the local population.

Since Saturday, June 21, 2025, the woman has been at the morgue of Kirundo Hospital after reportedly dying due to medical negligence. She had been urgently transferred two days earlier from the Ntega Health Center after an ultrasound showed her unborn child had already died in the womb.

A family member, her brother-in-law, denounces serious inaction by maternity staff. “I alerted the caregivers to intervene, but no one mobilized to extract the child. They only gave her antibiotics,” he testifies, visibly upset.

Warning signs ignored

According to the brother-in-law, the woman’s condition deteriorated significantly from Friday. “Her belly began to swell. When I entered the room, I found her lying down, unable to move, in critical condition,” he recalls. Despite repeated warnings to the head doctor and other staff, no operation was performed to save her. She died on Saturday afternoon.

The relative says he has already reported the case to health authorities but is still awaiting an official response.

A hospital severely understaffed

This tragedy revives debate about Kirundo Hospital’s operational conditions. According to internal sources, the facility has only four doctors: two Congolese and two Burundians. This is insufficient staff for a referral hospital, directly affecting care quality.

Residents of Kirundo raise an alarm, demanding urgent measures to ensure fair and safe access to healthcare.

Corruption and abusive practices denounced

Beyond the staff shortage, corruption cases also damage the hospital’s reputation. Two medical technicians were recently transferred for demanding money from patients before providing care. This disciplinary action, ordered by the Kirundo health province director, was welcomed by part of the staff.

These technicians had long been considered “untouchable” due to alleged ties to the ruling CNDD-FDD party. Their behavior reportedly created a climate of fear and mistrust among colleagues.

Hospital management under fire

The hospital director is also targeted for poor management and complicity in several internal dysfunctions. Some consider him the main culprit behind the observed abuses.

The population demands rigorous follow-up, an independent audit, and urgent reforms to restore trust and protect patients’ lives. Hospital officials had not responded to our inquiries at the time of publication.