Dr. Aissatou Diallo

Dr. Aissatou Diallo is a paediatrician at CHU Donka (Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Donka) in Conakry — Guinea's principal academic medical centre and the country's main referral hospital. As a female paediatrician serving a population where maternal and child health indicators remain among the most challenged in West Africa, she is a valuable resource for the children of Conakry and the broader Guinean population.

Guinea has one of the highest childhood mortality rates in the world, driven by preventable conditions: malaria (hyperendemic throughout the country), severe acute malnutrition, neonatal infections, pneumonia, and measles. Dr. Diallo's practice is at the frontline of these challenges, managing the sickest children referred from across Conakry's health system to CHU Donka.

Her experience managing Ebola virus disease in children during Guinea's 2014-2016 outbreak — the largest EVD epidemic in history — has made her one of West Africa's more experienced paediatricians in outbreak response and infection control. She consults in French, Pular, and Malinke, reflecting Guinea's major ethnic languages.

Dr. Diallo completed her Docteur en Médecine at the Université Gamal Abdel Nasser de Conakry and obtained her Diplôme d'Études Spécialisées (DES) in Paediatrics through the Guinean postgraduate specialist training programme. She has completed IMCI (Integrated Management of Childhood Illness), WHO-supported neonatology, and severe acute malnutrition (SAM) management training. She participated in WHO and MSF-supported Ebola clinical management training during Guinea's 2014-2016 outbreak response. Her additional training has included UNICEF-supported nutritional rehabilitation protocols and neonatal resuscitation refreshers through the Helping Babies Breathe programme. She maintains continuing medical education through the Société Guinéenne de Pédiatrie and WHO regional paediatric health workshops held in Conakry and Dakar.

Dr. Diallo's paediatric practice encompasses neonatal care, severe infectious disease management, and nutritional rehabilitation. She manages severe malaria including cerebral malaria with IV artesunate, anticonvulsants for seizure control, and careful fluid management. Her malnutrition practice follows WHO protocols for severe acute malnutrition including RUTF (ready-to-use therapeutic food) administration, correction of electrolyte deficiencies, and management of SAM complications such as hypoglycaemia and hypothermia. She performs lumbar puncture for meningitis diagnosis and manages neonatal sepsis with IV antibiotics. She also manages neonatal resuscitation, bronchiolitis, and measles with its complications. Her experience during Guinea's Ebola outbreak has given her advanced skills in fever triage, infection control, and the clinical differentiation of haemorrhagic fever from other tropical febrile illnesses.

Dr. Diallo's practice is within Guinea's national health system serving the local population. International NGO workers and humanitarian staff with children requiring paediatric assessment in Conakry can access consultation through CHU Donka. She consults in French, which is also the language of the large international humanitarian community in Guinea. For conditions requiring paediatric subspecialist care beyond Guinea's capacity — including paediatric cardiac surgery, oncology, or complex neonatal intervention — she facilitates referrals to Dakar (Senegal) or Abidjan (Côte d'Ivoire), where more advanced services are available. She provides structured paediatric summary reports in French for families accompanying children on international medical referrals.

Dr. Diallo is a member of the Ordre National des Médecins de Guinée and the Société Guinéenne de Pédiatrie. She was recognised for her service during Guinea's Ebola outbreak response and has been commended within CHU Donka for her dedication to paediatric care under difficult resource conditions. She participates in UNICEF and WHO child health programme activities in Guinea. Her contributions to Guinea's national nutrition programme — particularly the scale-up of community therapeutic feeding centres — have been acknowledged by the Ministry of Health. She has received a UNICEF Guinea commendation for her leadership in training health workers on SAM management in remote health districts.