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Dire humanitarian situation in Tongo Fields

    ABIDJAN

    A recent mission by the medical aid organisation MERLIN to the mining town of Tongo Fields in eastern Sierra Leone uncovered a dire humanitarian situation there, the BBC reported on Monday.

    There are no health facilitites in Tongo Fields and water and sanitation is very poor, Sheku Conteh of Medical Emergency Relief International (MERLIN) said in an interview. People are suffering from diarrhoea, lassa fever, scabies and malnutrition and some are starving because food is in short supply and very expensive. It is difficult to transport food to the area as the roads are very bad, he added.

    Following a ceasefire agreement last year between the government and the Revolutionary United Front, the rebels have started allowing food and medical aid into areas under their control - in some cases, for the first time in several years.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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