33 children with no healthcare die in two weeks in Bama Camp

The international medical organisation said the children died in the IDP camp in Bama where more than 10,00 people have arrived since April 2018.


33 children with no healthcare have been reported dead within two weeks in Bama Internally Displaced Persons Camp.

A non-governmental organisation, Médecins Sans Frontières, MSF, also known as Doctors Without Borders, made this known in a recent report, which was released on Friday, August 17, 2018.

“Between 2 and 15 August, MSF teams reported that 33 young children had died in the camp," a statement credited to MSF read.


The international medical organisation said the children died in the IDP camp in Bama where more than 10,00 people have arrived since April 2018.
Malnourished children in Nigeria's IDP camps play

Malnourished children in Nigeria's IDP camps

  (Nigerian News)



“Lack of adequate assistance, including access to shelter and healthcare, is having severe consequences for young children arriving in the town.


“Since April 2018, more than 10,000 people have arrived in the Government Science Secondary School (GSSS) camp (where) shelter and healthcare assistance has not kept pace with the growing population,” MSF said in the statement.



6000 IDPS sleep in the open without shelter - MSF

In the statement, MSF’s representative in Abuja, Katja Lorenz, said well over 6,000 people in the camp currently sleep in the open with no protection from the heat, rains and mosquitoes.


“People do not even have basic utensils to cook their dry food rations, and water is not available in adequate quantities to meet the minimum needs.

“A lot of children are already in a critical state upon arrival, and poor assistance and access to healthcare further deteriorates their condition.

"This figure is alarmingly high in relation to the total number of children under five years old, which is estimated to be around 6,000,” the statement said.