Security and health disaster in North Darfur camps
The residents of Naivasha and Shadad camps in Shangil Tobaya, North Darfur, are not only suffering from a lack of medicines and health care, but also from a severe shortage of food rations, and the spread of several diseases among children caused by malnutrition. This echoes multiple reports that reach Radio Dabanga every day from camps for the displaced throughout Darfur. Activists among the displaced from Naivasha and Shadad camps described the situation as disastrous. Apart from general weakness and diseases caused by malnutrition and the absence of medical services, the displaced are also suffering from the overall insecurity. Those who leave the camps to collect firewood and fodder are prone to assaults and rape by militiamen. The activists told Radio Dabanga that public transport to Shangil Tobaya town is scarce, which means that seriously ill people in need of urgent treatment cannot be transferred. They referred to the death of seven pregnant women who needed an operation and could not be transferred to a hospital in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur. They added that regular public transport has always been a problem in Shangil Tobaya. Only a week ago, the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced that child mortality due to malnutrition has reached 40 per cent in Sudan. The WHO expressed its concerns about the high rates of chronic malnutrition among children in Sudan, numbering 1.8 million. In August, the head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) disclosed that the malnutrition rate in Sudan is higher than the emergency threshold considered by the WHO. Lately, a number of sheikhs of camps for the displaced have complained about severe shortages of medicines and a lack of health care in the camps. One of them appealed to the international community to press the Sudanese authorities to allow the return of international humanitarian organisations as, he said, the federal government is completely failing in the provision of medicines and health care for the displaced in Darfur. File photo by Albert González Farran/UnamidRelated: WHO: Child mortality from malnutrition reaches 40% in Sudan (23 September 2013)
The residents of Naivasha and Shadad camps in Shangil Tobaya, North Darfur, are not only suffering from a lack of medicines and health care, but also from a severe shortage of food rations, and the spread of several diseases among children caused by malnutrition.
This echoes multiple reports that reach Radio Dabanga every day from camps for the displaced throughout Darfur.
Activists among the displaced from Naivasha and Shadad camps described the situation as disastrous. Apart from general weakness and diseases caused by malnutrition and the absence of medical services, the displaced are also suffering from the overall insecurity. Those who leave the camps to collect firewood and fodder are prone to assaults and rape by militiamen.
The activists told Radio Dabanga that public transport to Shangil Tobaya town is scarce, which means that seriously ill people in need of urgent treatment cannot be transferred. They referred to the death of seven pregnant women who needed an operation and could not be transferred to a hospital in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur. They added that regular public transport has always been a problem in Shangil Tobaya.
Only a week ago, the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced that child mortality due to malnutrition has reached 40 per cent in Sudan. The WHO expressed its concerns about the high rates of chronic malnutrition among children in Sudan, numbering 1.8 million. In August, the head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) disclosed that the malnutrition rate in Sudan is higher than the emergency threshold considered by the WHO.
Lately, a number of sheikhs of camps for the displaced have complained about severe shortages of medicines and a lack of health care in the camps. One of them appealed to the international community to press the Sudanese authorities to allow the return of international humanitarian organisations as, he said, the federal government is completely failing in the provision of medicines and health care for the displaced in Darfur.
File photo by Albert González Farran/Unamid
Related:
WHO: Child mortality from malnutrition reaches 40% in Sudan (23 September 2013)
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