bangui yaguina nesly waits outside a hut whose walls of corrugated steel are daubed in green and white paint it is one of a large number of unlicensed pharmacies in bangui the capital of the central african republic car outlets for cheap medication for the citys many poor informal pharmacists known as doctas flourish here despite worries that they dispense counterfeit drugs offer flawed medical advice and foster antibiotic resistance i always buy my drugs here because in hospital you can only get an appointment if youre lucky says nesly 23 her ninemonthold baby swathed on her back i prefer to come to my neighbourhood docta its faster and cheaper inside the makeshift structure stephen liossopivarabembe 33 hands her pills for stomach pains wearing a white coat and with a stethoscope slung around his neck liossopivarabembe says he started medical school but never finished because he ran out of money he works seven days per week in the store which is decorated with pictures of yellow pills and a sign in white letters reading health first people from wealthier economies may sneer or be shocked that illicit pharmacies openly trade like this but in the impoverished car doctas are widely appreciated for providing a roughandready safety net for health the landlocked country is struggling with a decadelong civil conflict and ranks the second poorest country in the world in the uns 189nation human development index it has just 01 doctors per 1000 people 30 or 40 times fewer than countries in western europe according to world bank statistics around 70 percent of medical care is provided by humanitarian organisations 27 million people or around half the population are in need of health assistance according to the uns office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs ocha queues there are no official figures for the number of doctas but as an anecdotal guide afp counted 10 of the illegal pharmacies just in one major street in a rundown district here long lines of people form especially in the evening in banguis fifth district antoine bissa a 39yearold student nurse was hard at work in a store named biba pharma he said he treated around 100 people per day for injections and drugs working until 11 pm he said the business was the sole source of revenue to support his four children most of his clients come with symptoms of malaria or a fever or need antiparasite treatment or first aid bissa said he said he offered free consultation and cheaper drugs compared with conventional outlets but if they are seriously ill we tell them to go to hospital for extensive treatment bissa said among the customers waiting for a docta was gilles doui a 35yearold civil servant who had muscular pains ive three children and i dont earn enough to go to a regular pharmacy he said i prefer to buy just a few pills rather than shell out for the whole package liossopivarabembe said we sell