Dr. Ricardo Ruiz, head of the dermatology service at this hospital and director of the International Dermatological Clinic, welcomed him at home and Gilby became friends with his children. “It was curious,” the doctor recounts, “because after the surgery, with the material comfort he was living in Madrid, his desire was to return to Burundi and teach his brothers how well things had improved.”.

Thanks to the support and involvement of Dr. Marta Conde, president of the Kyrikú Foundation, which has a significant presence in Burundi, Dr. Ruiz, patron of this foundation, traveled to the African country and saw first hand the dermatological needs that the Burundian children had.

They saw dozens of children with all kinds of undiagnosed and untreated skin injuries. They noticed that in the operating room, the surgeons threw away the pieces they removed, as they did not have a laboratory to analyze the material. This lack of equipment made it difficult to accurately diagnose and treat various skin diseases and other conditions. With the support of Fundación Recover, Dr. Ruiz proposed to Fundación Kyrikú to fill this gap in Burundi’s health infrastructure.

Why this laboratory
The activity of a pathology laboratory is an essential part of modern medicine, as it is the way to diagnose diseases with certainty in order to institute the appropriate treatment.

“The laboratory in Burundi will first help us diagnose whether an injury that appears on the skin or in any internal organ is infectious or cancerous, or whether it is malignant or benign. Only with that information can we recommend antibiotic treatment if it is infectious, or surgical treatment if it is malignant,” explains the doctor.

The second pillar of the laboratory will be the ability to perform vaginal cytology to diagnose cervical cancer early. And the third mission of the laboratory will be to be able to determine, through biopsies, the origin of skin ulcers. A huge percentage of children in Burundi have skin ulcers, which are very incapacitating and in many cases reach the bone, which becomes infected. With this laboratory, we will be able to know the origin of these ulcers, so that we can institute effective treatment.

Two diseases that could be eradicated
During his trip, Dr. Ruiz detected pathologies such as pian and Buruli ulcer, which are two of the more than twenty neglected tropical diseases that exist in the world according to the World Health Organization. pian It is a tropical endemic disease caused by a bacterium very similar to that that causes syphilis. Although this disease is also known as “childhood syphilis”, it is not transmitted sexually but by direct skin-to-skin contact. The disease manifests itself in the skin in the form of large ulcers and crusts, and with inflammation in the bones.

“The sequelae of this infection are terrible, with the formation of enormous disfiguring and painful scars, as well as bone destruction. The surprising thing is that with three tablets of azithromycin the disease is completely cured. And by treating the population preventively, the disease can be eradicated from a region,” assures the head of the Dermatology service at the Ruber Internacional Hospital.

On the other hand, Buruli ulcer is a chronic disease caused by an environmental mycobacterium: Mycobacterium ulcerans. This disease, which often affects the skin and sometimes the bone, can cause permanent disfigurement and long-term disability. The mechanism of transmission of the disease is not known and there is no way to prevent it, but with proper antibiotic treatment the prognosis is very good.

«The creation of this laboratory marks an important milestone in Burundi's healthcare system,» commented Dr. Ricardo Ruiz. «It is an important step towards strengthening the health infrastructure and improving the quality of life of thousands of Burundians. And none of this would have been possible without the support of Dr. Marta Conde, the soul of this initiative.».

The project, for which Dr. Ana Belén Enguita, a pathologist from the International Dermatology Clinic and the 12 de Octubre Hospital, and her team have also been essential, consists of installing the infrastructure of the pathological anatomy laboratory with all its equipment at the Ngosi Hospital in Burundi. But, in addition, it will allow local staff to be trained so that they can ensure the long-term sustainability of the laboratory. To do this, Fundación Recover is making its online platforms available to the hospital both for training and supporting diagnosis through telemedicine. In addition, a field mission will be coordinated with a team of volunteers and professionals from Fundación Recover, the International Dermatology Clinic, and the 12 de Octubre Hospital; among them, the doctor herself. Enguita, who will design and oversee both online and on-site training, as well as support for distance training through the Telemedicine platform.

The importance of collaboration
The implementation of projects like this pathological anatomy laboratory is only possible with the collaboration of our partners and allies. “I think it’s always interesting to keep up to date with the actions taken by foundations like Recover, to get involved in some way. Personally, I think that in this type of involvement you always receive much more than you give,” the specialist reflects.

“It is a privilege for me to work with Fundación Recover, which has not hesitated to offer us all kinds of financial, material and logistical support to be able to carry out this project. Schopenhauer said that Health is not everything, but without it everything else is nothing.. ”Being able to help improve people’s health is a real blessing,” emphasizes Dr. Ricardo Ruiz.

He already does it every day.

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