Dr Anne-Sophie Rowcroft serving with SIM at Galmi Hospital in Niger
Email: AnneSophie.Rowcroft@gmail.com
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Please pray for her regularly. If you’d like to receive her regular email updates and prayer points you can request this by sending her an email.
Anne-Sophie’s Role
Dr Anne-Sophie is serving as a GP obstetrician as part of the medical team at Galmi Hospital, Niger. She works to provide essential care for mothers and babies, working alongside local Nigerien staff to improve health outcomes for these most vulnerable patients.
Niger, ranked 167th of 169 countries on the UN’s Human Development Index has only one medical doctor for every 50,000 people. Its hot, dry, dusty land limits the opportunities for many to improve their circumstances. 63% of the population lives below the poverty line, surviving on less than US$1 per day.
In 2012, Save the Children Fund declared Niger the worst place in the world to be a mother with statistics including:
- Total fertility rate—7.6 children born/woman, highest in the world
- Population growth rate—3.64, second highest in the world
- Infant mortality—112 deaths/1000 births, third highest in the world
- Maternal mortality—lifetime risk of maternal death of 1 in 16
- Adult literacy rate—28% of total population, 42.9% of men, 15.1% of women
- Religion– Islam >90%; Animism 7%; Christianity 0.4%
Vision & Mission
Galmi Hospital’s vision is to see Nigeriens growing in capacity to provide competent medical and spiritual care for their fellow citizens of all ethnic and economic backgrounds.
Its mission is to bring expertise, energy, and resources for training, providing medical services, and effecting the transformation needed to accomplish its vision.
Galmi hospital, in operation since 1950, is run by SIM. It is dedicated to enacting God’s word by providing healthcare to those who need it most, regardless of their religion or ability to pay. Located on the southern edge of the Sahara in Niger, near the border with Nigeria, this 110-bed hospital provides inpatient and outpatient medical care to around 300 men, women and children a day, often taking referrals from surrounding government hospitals that lack the resources to provide patients with the medical services they need. During any given time, there are 30 — 40 people from all over the world living full-time at the Galmi compound and serving here. The hospital also employs and trains over 100 Nigeriens in different aspects of health care.
Around 2400 babies are born at Galmi hospital each year, but currently the hospital has only one obstetrician. In the last 12 months alone there were 800 Caesarean sections.