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Health

WHO to create makeshift clinics in Plateau IDP camps

WHO to create makeshift clinics in Plateau IDP camps
By Blessing Odega
Clinics
Bukuru (Plateau), July 18, 2018 (NAN) The World Health Organisation (WHO) has promised to create makeshift clinics in the various IDPs camps in Plateau to address the health needs of displaced persons.
Mr Wadzingi Bassi, Plateau State Coordinator of WHO, disclosed this on Wednesday in Bukuru when the organisation donated relief materials to displaced persons at the Geo-Science IDPs camp.
Bassi said that the organisation provided the items to ensure that the displaced persons have food to eat and toiletries to carter for their hygiene.
He said that the organisation would also provide routine immunisation for children between 0 and 5 years in the various IDPs camps to ensure that they were protected from preventable childhood killer diseases.
The coordinator said that the organisation was working in synergy with the state Ministry of Health to ensure that there was no outbreak of diseases at the camps.
Mr Habila Gawatu, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health, who accompanied the coordinator, said that the ministry was ensuring that all health challenges that emerged in the camps were addressed.
Mrs Yop Ajose, the camp Coordinator who received the items on behalf of the camp leader, thanked WHO for the gesture, saying that the items will go a long way in alleviating their plights.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the items donated include cartons of noodles, beverages, washing soaps and bags of sachet water. (NAN)
UBO/JPE/MST
Edited by Joseph Edeh/Muhammad Suleiman Tola

Environment

Doctors Without Borders decries deplorable water situation in Gwoza, Pulka IDP camps

Camps
By Tosin Kolade

Abuja, April 11, 2018 (NAN) Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), has raised an alarm over the deplorable water situation in Gwoza and Pulka Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps in Borno.

The Head of Mission, Mr Luis Eguiluz, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Wednesday that the situation was increasing the cases of water borne diseases, especially as the rainy season sets in.

According to him, there is presently poor personal hygiene among the population due to inadequate access to water, as the quantity of water per person falls under emergency levels.

“MSF conducted an assessment of the water situation and water availability is not sufficient, especially in GSS and Wakane camps in Gwoza and all IDPs camps in Pulka, with present levels below five litres and eight litres per person respectively.

“In addition, lack of water availability increases tensions with the host community within the population in camps and pushes families, especially women to adopt harmful coping strategies to access water.’’

He said one of the coping strategies was to risk abduction and killing by armed groups while attempting to fetch water or firewood to sell outside the security perimeter.

According to him, during the past nine months, several alerts have been raised by IDPs and the humanitarian actors related to access to shelter and water availability.

Eguiluz added that the situation had not improved.

He underscored the need for immediate action of all humanitarian agencies and donours to ensure quick and effective solutions to improve water availability.

Eguiluz said there was the need for a short and medium term solutions such as water trucking and immediate repair of present infrastructure to reduce the continued deficits and risks to health and lives.

The head of mission said the organisation had been implementing the programmes in the two camps since 2016, by providing medical support through primary and secondary health care.

He said its humanitarian interventions also include the distributing of Non-Food items, shelter, food, water and sanitation since 2017.

Speaking further about Gwoza, he said the available water points were usually emptied within one hour, saying the total IDPs population of 3,775 were growing with the arrival of new displaced persons daily.

He said it was saddening that the quality of water could not be tested as there was no access to water testing laboratories.

“From our observation, Chlorination is not done properly, MSF does not have access to water quality analysis, there are clear concerns on the use of non-clean water as women also fetch water from open wells for drinking purposes.

“Dirty ropes and containers are in contact with the water inside the wells, and children also re-collect the standard water near water points and mix them with the collected water from the tanks.’’

Eguiluz said in Pulka camp, lack of water availability was affecting the entire population, host community and IDPs, and said that the more than 60,000 population, 40,878 of them face water crisis.

He said the health consequences of these issues were a 33 per cent increase in water borne diseases, with 78 per cent of them from the camps.

“From mid-January to mid-march, in MSF hospital, we have treated 135 cases of acute water diarrhea, while in 2017, for the same cases, we treated only 31 cases.

“MSF also regularly receives patients with skin diseases resulting from hygiene problems related to water scarcity.’’

He added that the continuous arrival of new IDPs and returnees were additional risk factors of acute water diarrhea and potential cases of cholera. (NAN)

TAK/EEE
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Editing by Ese E. Ekama

 

Environment

Group seeks better living conditions for women, girls in IDPs camps

NAN-AE-7
Camps
By Tosin Kolade
Abuja, June 29, 2017 (NAN) The Network for Women’s Rights and Justice, an NGO, has decried the “poor living conditions’’ of women and children in the camps set up for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the FCT.

 

The group’s Policy Adviser, Mrs Angela Anosike, told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Thursday that the majority of the women and girls in the camps did not have access to potable water and toilet facilities.

 

She urged all stakeholders to step up their efforts to improve the lives of the female residents of the IDPs camps as they constituted the “vulnerable groups.’’

 

Anosike underscored the need to properly address the challenges facing women and girls in the camps so as to guard against the onset of a serious humanitarian crisis.

 

She also called on the Federal Government to partner with stakeholders in meeting the needs of women and girls in IDPs camps.

 

According to her, the group has collaborated with other groups like Gender Equality, Peace and Development Centre in undertaking the assessment of the people’s living conditions in IDPs camps in Abuja as well as Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states.

 

Anosike noted that the violent insurgency in those states had provoked the displacement of many persons and their deplorable living conditions.

 

The policy adviser said that more efforts should be made to improve the wellbeing of the displaced persons, particularly women and children.

 

“In the IDPs camps, the people experience harrowing conditions such as paucity of basic amenities and the risk of contracting diseases such as malaria, typhoid and cholera.

 

“Some of them suffer from psycho-social trauma but unfortunately, the IDPs are helpless and fearful; they also lack the voice and skills to facilitate the fulfilment of their basic needs,’’ she said.

 

Anosike said that the team, which visited places like Chibok, Bama, Konduga and Gwoza communities, found out that post-insurgency reconstruction facilities were still lacking in the areas.

 

She particularly called for the improvement of the access of women and girls to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities.

 

“The toilet facilities in the camps are very poor and inadequate, for this reason, many IDPs use the surrounding bushes as makeshift toilets.

 

“There is the need for the number of toilets to be increased; women and men also need separate toilets so as to boost the privacy and wellbeing of all IDPs in the camps,’’ she said.

 

Anosike appealed to Nigerians to show more love to IDPs, saying that they became displaced as a result of the insurgency in their neighbourhoods. (NAN)
TAK/JIE/OOK
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Edited by Julius Enehikhuere and Dayo Komolafe