Nigeria: Diarrhoea, Malaria Hit Displaced Persons Camps in Lafia

Lafia — The Nigerian Red Cross Society has said that the Lafia and Doma camps in Nasarawa State, where displaced persons in the state are being kept, have been hit by an outbreak of diarrhoea, malaria and dehydration.

Secretary of the Red Cross in the state, Jerry Kuje told Daily Trust on phone yesterday that children are the most affected. He said 10 children were sent from the camps to the Specialists Hospital in Lafia on Monday for diarrhoea and dehydration.
"We have also recorded cases of malaria, but we are taking care of them", he said.

He said a set of twins delivered at one of the camps, suffered dehydration, and were taken to the hospital.
Kuje however said that there are enough medics to treat the cases at the camps.
"There is a task force on medics on ground, constituted by the state government with doctors from the ministry of health, and our members are also there at the camps with the displaced persons", he said.
The state's Commissioner for Health, Dr. Emmanuel Akabe confirmed cases of malaria, dehydration and diarrhoea, but said they have all been taken care of.

"We have enough drugs at the camps to take care of cases like these. The cases that had to be taken to the hospital were those who required Drips. We took four children to the hospital for dehydration. We also took a few pregnant women who delivered to the hospital. We have adequate oral dehydration therapy in the camps to prevent the cases of diarrhoea from getting worse. Our medical team is committed," he said.