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Niger Health Insurance Advice

Niger, officially known as the Republic of Niger, is the largest country in West Africa, although 80 percent of the land mass makes up the Sahara desert. The country is landlocked and shares its borders with Chad, Libya, Mali, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Benin and Algeria. Niger is inhabited by approximately 16 million people who predominately live in the rural areas of the country. The country is divided into eight regions including a capital district, being Niamey.

Niger is a developing country and one of the poorest countries in the world. It is plagued by droughts, poor education, poverty, a lack of adequate infrastructure and a poor healthcare system. The United Nations has ranked the country almost last, 167th out of 169 countries, in the Human Development Index. The country was under military control for a long period of time following it gaining independence from France in 1960. The official language of Niger is French, however the locals speak other dialects and the level of spoken French varies between citizens.

The landscape of Niger consists of desert plans and sand dunes. As a consequence of the landscape, the climate in Niger is subtropical with hot and dry temperatures. Niger is one of the hottest countries in the world. It also has the world’s largest deposits of uranium which along with crops and livestock, drive the country’s economy.

Despite the setbacks, Niger offers stunning scenery for travellers in the way of sand dunes, ancient towns with mud brick architecture and friendly locals. Please be aware that Niger does not have any ATM machines, so travellers should ensure that they take cash or travellers cheques with them, in either Euro or the West African CFA franc. Credit card advances are possible in the capital city of Niamey, but are costly with high surcharges often imposed on the service.

In 2000 Niger received debt relief from the International Monetary Fund program for Heavily Indebted Poor Countries. This funding helped reduce the countries debt obligations, and in turn freed up funds to assist the country to improve other areas including, basic health care, education, infrastructure and reducing poverty by way of the introduction of a Poverty Reduction Strategy Plan.

Due to the poor health conditions and inadequate nutrition, Niger has an extremely high child mortality rate. This was further exasperated by the 2010 famine in Niger which led to widespread disease and deaths as crops failed to mature due to the heat. In 2009 the Government spent approximately 6.1% of its GDP on healthcare.

Travellers to Niger are at a very high risk of contracting a number of diseases including diarrhoea, hepatitis A and typhoid fever from contaminated food and water. Other diseases which pose a risk to travellers are malaria, schistosomiasis, rabies, cholera, meningococcal meningitis and H5N1 avian flu (bird flu). Travellers should ensure that they receive vaccinations against hepatitis A, yellow fever (as it is a requirement to enter the country for travellers greater than one year old) and typhoid fever and take anti malarial tablets before travelling to Niger. Travellers should boil all water before consuming it and refrain from swimming in fresh water.

Travellers to Niger should ensure that they check if any travel warnings are in place before they consider travelling. Travel warnings change frequently and are regularly updated by many countries. At present the US State Department has issued a travel warning advising US citizens against travelling to Niger due to increased kidnapping threats against Westerners. The Australian Government and the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office along with many others have also advised against travelling to Niger. This is due to the fact that Al-Qaida have been successful in its attempts to kidnap Westerners, kidnapping and killing two French tourists in January 2011. Seven other tourists were kidnapped in September 2010 and are still being held hostage.

Medical facilities in Niger are poor as the country suffers from a lack of adequate equipment and a shortage of medical supplies (including medications). A lack of finances and trained medical professionals are the main obstacles to improving the healthcare system in Niger.

In the capital city of Niamey, healthcare facilities are very limited and extremely basic or nonexistent in the rural areas of Niger. Medical treatment in Niger can be expensive and many medical facilities require travellers to pay up front before they receive medical treatment. An inability to pay the medical facility will often delay treatment.

Emergency and ambulance services in Niger are very limited. Therefore in the event of a serious illness or accident, travellers may need to be medically evacuated to a nearby country with appropriate medical facilities. Emergency evacuation planes will not depart for Niger without a guarantee of payment. As this can be a costly expense, we therefore recommend that travellers to Niger take out comprehensive Niger medical insurance including coverage for emergency medical evacuation. Travellers should also ensure that they bring an adequate supply of prescription medications with them when travelling to Niger, as obtaining additional supplies can be difficult or impossible in the case of some medications.

If you need medical treatment while travelling in Niger, the Clinique Pasteur (situated in front of the Lycée Fontaine) has clean facilities, sterile needles and competent Doctors. The Clinique Gamkalley is also a reliable private medical facility and is staffed by French Doctors. Many other clinics in Niger, however are not as reliable and may use dirty needles, over prescribe medications and have aggressive staff.

Other recommended medical facilities in Niger include Hospital National de Niamey, a 244 bed hospital in the capital city of Niamey. Clinique du Plateau and Clinique Jean Kaba are private medical clinics in Niemey and are also recommended.

Travelling to Niger does come with its risks to a traveller’s health. We therefore recommend that you visit Niger cautiously and ensure that you are vaccinated against all possible threats of disease before travelling. The risk of contracting diseases in Niger is extremely high and the medical facilities are poor. If you choose to travel to Niger we strongly recommend that you take out comprehensive medical insurance which includes emergency evacuation.

At Global Health Insurance we work with many large international insurance companies that can provide you with comprehensive health insurance in Niger. Please contact one of our friendly medical insurance specialists today for a range of Niger health insurance quotations.