Ken Elliot and his wife Jocelyn are believed to have been abducted following an attack on the Burkina Faso capital of Ouagadougou on Friday that killed 28 people.
The West Australian couple, in their 80s, moved to Burkina Faso in 1972 to set up the clinic in the town of Djibo in the country's north.
[Dr Elliot, the sole surgeon at the clinic, said the need for modern medicine was enormous in the West African region in a GBSI interview about the clinic. ]
Dr Elliot, the sole surgeon at the clinic, said the need for modern medicine was enormous in the West African region in a GBSI interview about the clinic.
The whereabouts of the couple are still unknown, with no reason given for their abduction, says the family spokesperson.
"Recent news from the country indicates an alleged abduction of Ken and Jocelyn on Friday night," the spokesperson said in a statement released through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
"Their commitment to the local people is reflected in the fact that they have continued there with only a few holidays since 1972.
"They are held in high esteem by the local people."
Leland Davis, a former nursing student who worked with the couple at their 120 bed facility in 2012, praised the couple and their medical work in a tribute posted to social media on Sunday.
"They are the most amazing people I've ever met," the former University of West Florida student said.
"My heart goes out to them."
Burkina Faso President Roch Marc Christian Kabore confirmed on Sunday that two Australians had been kidnapped near the border of Mali.
The 28 casualties are believed to be from 18 countries, while around 50 civilians were wounded in the attack.
The couple both grew up in the WA country, with Dr Elliot leaving school at 15 to work on his family's farm.
He graduated from university in 1963 before spending two years at Fremantle Hospital as well as a locum with the Royal Flying Doctor Service - based out of Kalgoorlie, in WA's goldfield region.
Dr Elliot performed 150 surgical operations a month in the Djibo hospital he designed and built himself, according to a 2013 Global Business Services incorporated newsletter.
Dr Elliot, the sole surgeon at the clinic, said the need for modern medicine was enormous in the West African region in a GBSI interview about the clinic.
"Our great thrust is surgery because that is, in our opinion, is lacking throughout the country and throughout the region of West Africa," he said.
