Health, water crisis spreads disease in Darfur camps

The camps for the displaced in Kass locality in South Darfur and Tawila in North Darfur are experiencing a severe shortage of health and water services, which is leading to a deterioration in the environment.

Abdelrahman Abdullah Mohammed, the head Sheikh of the camps in Kass told Radio Dabanga on Tuesday that there are only two health centres in the 37 camps for 187,000 displaced people amid an acute shortage in medicines and medical personnel.

He pointed in this regard to the spread of diarrhoeal diseases and malnutrition among children and the elderly as a result of food shortage.

He described the environmental situation in the camps as “very bad, aggravated by the stop of organisations working in the field of environmental sanitation.

“There is a severe shortage of drinking water in the camps as 55 of the 187 water wells are inoperative.

“The schools in camps are suffering from shortage of textbooks and fees charged to the families, while meals for school pupils that used to be provided by humanitarian organisations have ceased.

Tawila

The five camps of Tawila in North Darfur also complain of poor medical services, lack of medicines and severe deterioration in environmental sanitation

Activist Abdullah Omer told Radio Dabanga that the Tawila camps accommodate about 48,000 displaced people, who receive their health services from only a one hospital belonging to Doctors Without Borders. This is shared by the Tawila population which causes severe overcrowding, compelling some to use outpatient clinics or travel to El Fasher.

He explained that Tawila hospital has remained closed since the year 2004.

He demanded the state authorities and humanitarian organisations expedite the opening of the hospital and provision of health staff and medicines.