Dr. María Esono Abaga

Dr. María Esono Abaga is a general practitioner at Hospital La Paz in Malabo, providing frontline primary healthcare for residents of Bioko Island and the surrounding communities. With 12 years of clinical experience, Dr. Esono Abaga has dedicated her career to serving the primary health needs of a population that has limited access to specialist care outside the capital. Her practice at Hospital La Paz addresses the most common reasons for attendance at the national referral hospital's outpatient department, spanning malaria management, childhood illnesses, respiratory and gastrointestinal infections, anaemia, and basic maternal health assessment. Equatorial Guinea's healthcare system, while better funded per capita than some neighbouring countries due to oil revenues, continues to face significant challenges in terms of trained healthcare personnel, particularly at primary care level, making general practitioners like Dr. Esono Abaga indispensable. She is known among her patients for her attentiveness and her ability to manage the psychological as well as physical dimensions of health in a culturally sensitive manner. She conducts consultations in Spanish and French, serving both the local population and the growing expatriate community in Malabo.

Dr. Esono Abaga completed her medical training through a programme supported by the Universidad Nacional de Guinea Ecuatorial, with supplementary training periods in Spain as part of the bilateral medical education cooperation arrangements between Equatorial Guinea and its former colonial partner. Her general practice training included rotations through paediatrics, obstetrics, internal medicine, and emergency care, providing the generalist skills required for primary care practice in a small island health system.

Dr. Esono Abaga's clinical expertise covers the breadth of primary care relevant to the Equatoguinean population. She diagnoses and manages malaria using rapid diagnostic tests and first-line artemisinin-based combination therapy, assesses and treats acute respiratory and diarrhoeal infections in children and adults, and provides antenatal consultation including blood pressure monitoring, haemoglobin assessment, and malaria prophylaxis in pregnancy. She administers childhood immunisations and conducts growth monitoring for children under five. She provides wound care and management of minor skin conditions, and screens patients for hypertension, anaemia, and nutritional deficiencies.

Dr. Esono Abaga's professional focus is on direct clinical service delivery. She has contributed to national immunisation programme monitoring and has participated in Ministry of Health workshops on the management of childhood malnutrition and prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission. Her practical knowledge of primary care delivery in Equatorial Guinea informs the work of younger colleagues at Hospital La Paz.

Dr. Esono Abaga provides general medical consultations for expatriate families and international visitors in Malabo, particularly for acute illness management and paediatric care. She communicates fluently in Spanish and French, making her accessible to the majority of the international community in Equatorial Guinea. Appointments at Hospital La Paz are arranged through the outpatient reception.

Dr. Esono Abaga is a registered member of the Colegio de Médicos de Guinea Ecuatorial and is respected within the Hospital La Paz community for her consistent commitment to her patients and her role as one of the hospital's reliable frontline clinicians. She is regarded as a positive role model for women entering medicine in Equatorial Guinea.