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Assessment Of Health Need For Internally Displaced Persons
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The displaced are faced with family’s breakup and communities tiers.
They are unemployed, limited access to land, education, food and
shelter. Displacement disrupts the live not only the individual and
families concerned but the society as a whole. Both the areas left by
the displaced and new settlement also suffer.
Camps are set up to
meet emergency needs of displacement apart from those that may decide to
live with relations and friends outside the camps. However camps
settings are associated with challenges especially when the displaced
overstayed more than expected period in the camp.
When aid/assistance
from the government and other donors agencies were no longer adequate
and other needs of the displace starts to emerge.
The situation of
inadequate aid/assistance and overstayed displaced in the camp calls for
upgrading temporary settlement and improving access to basic services
and livelihood opportunities (community development).
Community
development in emergency situation thus is the provision and
accessibility of necessities of life while in the camp such as health
services, education, provision of skill acquisition programmes,
improvement on the acquired skill to meet the societal demands all
geared towards improving the condition of living within the camp.
The
camp which now serves as the community of the displaced need to be
developed to serve the developmental needs of the displaced.
Education
provides physical, psychosocial and cognitive protection that can be
both lifesaving and life sustaining. It offers safe space for learning
as well as ability to identify and provide support for affected
individual particularity children and adolescents. Education mitigates
the psychosocial impact of conflict and disaster by giving a sense of
normality, stability (Ferris and Winthrop 2010). According to Zerrougui,
education in emergency situation saves lives and it serves as a major
component of strategies for child protection. It provides children with
live saving information; sustain progress already made by patents and
communities. In fact, education in emergency situation gives hope and
reduces the trauma already suffered.
Another area of community
development in emergency situation is health. Displacement of persons
has major consequences on the health of the displaced. Apart from the
fear and trauma, the new settlement (camps) is often compounded with
environmental health issues that affect the health of the displaced. In
most cases, children and women are particularly vulnerable to
malnutrition diseases and violence. The displaced are faced with
overcrowding, poor water and sanitation facilities resulting to
diarrheal, acute respiratory infections, malaria, meningitis.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Lack
of effective health facilities in Maiduguri is one of the major
problems influencing the provision of health need to internally
displaced persons (IDP).
The activity of the much dreaded Boko Haram
sect has tampered with the peace and harmony of Nigeria as a nation and
Borno in particular. The victims of war, battle, clash or conflict are
not just those who die in the battle, those who live to tell the story
live with pains and memories that may never make them remain the same
again.
Above and beyond, the displaced persons at the camps have seen
a lighter shade of death with the hardship and sufferings they have
endured in recent times. Some of them are lost and have no suspicion of
the where about of their loved ones. Living in the IDP camp is enough
reason for them to be unhappy and upset when they used to be major
business owners and land owners. This study, however, intends to find
out the information health needs of the IDPs at Maiduguri camps in Borno
State.
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The general objective
of this study is to examine the Assessment of health need for internally
displaced persons in Maiduguri. The specific objectives include the
following:
1. To examine the condition of internally displaced persons in Maiduguri.
2. To ascertain if there is health need among internally displaced persons in Maiduguri.
3. To find out if there is availability of health care facilities for internally displaced persons in Maiduguri.
4. To determine the role of government in ensuring provision of health need for internally displaced persons in Maiduguri.
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