Save the Children International (SCI) Nigeria has raised concerns over the health of more than 300,000 people, including children, forced to move to Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in Borno State due to the flash floods that ravaged the state last week.
The flood, which is the worst in the country in the last two decades, has affected over 400,000 people, leaving families without shelter, healthcare, food, and clean water.
Speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday, SCI Nigeria Country Director, Mr. Duncan Harvey, noted that the living conditions in the overcrowded camps are poor and unsanitary.
He said urgent intervention is key to averting the risks of exposing the already displaced persons to diseases such as malaria and water-borne illnesses in the camps. According to him, the first cholera case has already been reported.
“More than 400,000 people are affected by floods in Borno State, with 37 deaths and 58 people injured reported to date. Conditions in the hastily opened IDP camps are overcrowded and unsanitary, and the scale of partners’ services is not keeping up with the numbers.
“According to the Borno State Government’s Emergency Operations Centre, over 300,000 people have been registered in at least 26 relocation sites, as of 14 September. Up to 30 sites have been set up and registration is ongoing.”
“Access to hospitals, markets, and other critical infrastructure remains limited. Maiduguri Teaching Hospital has been severely damaged, one of the largest hospitals in the country. Schools are closed, with some serving as temporary relocation sites or IDP camps.”
“The flooding is happening at the height of a food and nutrition crisis – the lean season. In addition to the immediate need for food and clean water for IDPs, water-borne diseases and malaria are major risks. Open defecation in the camps is widespread. The first cholera cases have already been reported, and this is a major health risk that needs urgent intervention,” he stated.
The SCI Nigeria Country Director also noted that the organisation is doing its part to provide immediate assistance to the flood victims.
He however called for support from the Federal and Borno State governments for more effective interventions from humanitarian actors.
“Save the Children is currently on the ground to provide urgent rescue service, lifesaving response, and rehabilitation of affected communities.
Save the Children’s urgent response plan to the crisis includes but not limited to, Multi-Purpose Cash Assistance (MPCA) to affected households; setting up health and nutrition outreach services to the affected households; rehabilitation of sanitation facilities and conducting hygiene promotion and community awareness raising; child protection in emergencies through the setting up Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) help desk to provide psychological first-aid and psychological support to children and caregivers in the camps; the rollout of safe family sessions and establishing minimum protection monitoring activities, among others.”
“Save the Children calls on the Borno State Government and the Federal Government to ensure that humanitarian actors are supported, encouraged, with
enabling approaches and systems that helps to speed up the efficiency of lifesaving flood response programme for the children, families, and communities who are urgent need,” Mr. Harvey said.
