Dr Amada Guira is a surgeon and has been head of the surgery department at the Tenkodogo Regional Hospital for four years.

With his team, he has been working in partnership with Handicap International for two years on hydrocele (the accumulation of liquid in a pocket surrounding the testicle), a complication of lymphatic filariasis.“Handicap International supported a vast hydrocele treatment program in our region. Usually, we operate on between 120 and 150 people per year, yet we had 320 consultations which needed surgical operations. We were unaware of the fact that the disease had become endemic. At the end of this mission, my Canadian colleague and I were asked to give our assessment during a workshop. We observed differences in the treatment of the disease, a high rate of bilateralism (60%) and major hypertrophy in 75% of cases.”

Amada Guira also told us about another revelation during the study: “The larger the hydrocele, the more impoverished the sufferer. It was also important to standardize practices in operating blocks and further training for surgeons. This was my role and I found it to be a satisfying one. I would like to thank Handicap International and express my gratitude, as hydrocele is a public health problem. It is also a poverty-related disease. By subsidizing operations, Handicap International has enabled many people to start living again.”