Dr. Simon Gbazalé

Dr. Simon Gbazalé is an internist at the Hôpital de l'Amitié in Bangui, providing specialist internal medicine care within one of the Central African Republic's principal public medical institutions. Over 12 years of specialist practice, Dr. Gbazalé has managed complex medical conditions in a healthcare system that operates under extraordinary constraints, including critical shortages of medications, diagnostic equipment, laboratory reagents, and specialist personnel.

The Central African Republic has one of the highest HIV prevalence rates in Central Africa, and HIV management represents a core component of Dr. Gbazalé's practice. He works within the national antiretroviral therapy programme, managing patients at all stages of HIV infection including those with advanced immunosuppression and complex opportunistic infections. Malaria, tuberculosis, and meningitis — often occurring as co-infections in HIV-positive patients — form a significant share of his inpatient caseload.

Dr. Gbazalé has worked in close collaboration with international medical partners who have supported HIV programme implementation in the CAR, including through PEPFAR-funded initiatives. His clinical practice benefits from these partnerships, which have provided additional training, medications, and diagnostic support beyond what the public health system alone can provide. He is committed to maintaining the highest clinical standards achievable within the constraints of his environment.

Dr. Gbazalé completed his Doctorat en Médecine at the Faculté des Sciences de la Santé of the Université de Bangui. He undertook his internal medicine residency at the Hôpital de l'Amitié and at the Complexe Pédiatrique de Bangui, completing his Diplôme de Spécialité en Médecine Interne through the national specialist training programme. He undertook a postgraduate clinical attachment in HIV medicine and infectious diseases at a partner institution in Cameroon. He has completed PEPFAR-funded clinical HIV training courses and WHO-coordinated tuberculosis management workshops relevant to the Central African context.

Dr. Gbazalé provides inpatient and outpatient internal medicine care with a focus on infectious diseases and HIV. He manages antiretroviral therapy initiation, monitoring, and management of treatment failure and drug toxicity. He diagnoses and treats HIV-related opportunistic infections including cryptococcal meningitis, PCP pneumonia, cerebral toxoplasmosis, and oesophageal candidiasis. He manages tuberculosis including HIV-TB co-infection, severe and complicated malaria, bacterial meningitis, and typhoid fever. He also manages non-communicable conditions including hypertension and diabetes in patients who present alongside infectious comorbidities. Procedurally, he performs lumbar puncture, IV therapy management, and coordinates laboratory investigations with the hospital's available diagnostic resources.

Dr. Gbazalé's primary dedication is clinical service at the Hôpital de l'Amitié, where the demands of managing a high patient volume with limited resources leave limited time for formal academic research. He has contributed to national HIV programme monitoring data and has participated in disease surveillance activities organised by the CAR Ministry of Health with WHO technical support. His clinical experience managing HIV and co-infections in the CAR context has been shared at national medical meetings in Bangui.

Dr. Gbazalé consults in French and Sango. He is accessible to French-speaking international humanitarian workers, UN staff, and NGO personnel based in Bangui who require specialist internal medicine evaluation. HIV-positive expatriates or diaspora returnees requiring antiretroviral therapy management during stays in Bangui can seek consultation with Dr. Gbazalé. The Hôpital de l'Amitié is the main public referral hospital in Bangui and is one of the better-equipped public facilities in the country for complex medical case management.

Dr. Gbazalé is recognised within the Central African Republic's medical community and by international partner organisations for his dedicated practice of internal medicine and HIV care in Bangui. He is a member of the Ordre National des Médecins de Centrafrique and has been acknowledged by PEPFAR programme implementers for his contributions to HIV clinical care quality in the national treatment programme.