Emmanuel Thomas, Lagos
September 25, 2015 – The Internally Displaced Camps (IDP)s in Nigeria have been hit with cholera. So far, 172 cases have been recorded in the camps with 16 people already dead.
Medicines Sans Frontiers/Doctors Without Borders (MSF), a group that specializes in rendering medical assistant working in the IDP camps in Nigeria made the disclosure on its website.
It therefore called on humanitarian organisations to join efforts to halt the trend. At least 1.6 million are currently displaced as a result of the onslaught of the radical Islamic sect, Boko Haram in Nigeria. Most of those displaced are women, the group said.
“The first cases of cholera appeared a month ago in an internally displaced persons (IDP) camp in Maiduguri and then spread to two of the city’s other IDP sites. As of yesterday(September 16), 172 cholera cases and 16 deaths have been officially recorded”, the group said.
MSF is providing emergency medical and logistics services to fight the epidemic in conjunction with the Borno State Government.
“ From September 10 to 15, 187 patients were admitted to MSF’s cholera treatment center, which has a 100-bed capacity. Sixty-four percent were severe cases. The least serious cases were treated in outpatient oral rehydration facilities.
“In tandem with providing medical care, MSF initiated an effort in late August to improve hygiene and sanitation in the camp where the first cholera cases appeared. This includes the chlorination of water sources, provision of chlorine solution for hand-washing, and home disinfection when a case is identified.
“Since then, MSF personnel have also worked in the second affected camp, where they identified a contaminated water source. In mid-September, MSF launched the same type of operation in the third affected camp.
“Once again, MSF and the International Committee of the Red Cross find themselves alone,” as the only international organizations currently responding to the cholera outbreak, MSF Head of Mission in Nigeria, Mr. Ghada Hatim said.
In September 2014, MSF treated more than 4,000 patients after a cholera epidemic broke out in Borno State.
“The living and hygienic conditions in the camps were and remain ripe for the outbreak of this type of epidemic. We need more support. We have repeatedly called on other humanitarian and aid organizations to assist displaced persons in Borno State and are again issuing this appeal, which has gone unanswered,” MSF Emergency Project Manager in Paris, Mr. Chibuzo Okonta said.
