Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has started an anti-malaria programme in Baylesa State where health services are limited, the humanitarian medical aid body announced on 29 October.
Malaria is the main cause of death for the area’s 100.000 people. Quoting federal government and UNICEF figures, MSF said 200 of 1,000 children died of the disease each year in the region.
After its anti-malaria and fever programme, MSF said it would start an emergency preparedness programme in Kano State. This will respond to meningitis, yellow fever, measles and cholera. In Borno State MSF will undertake a cholera prevention and treatment programme, and in Lagos a health and water surveillance efforts will be conducted in the city’s slums.
MSF has just completed an aerial assessment of the still flooded Niger River valley, in Niger State. The agency said although there was no immediate medical emergency in the area the potential for epidemics was strong as the flood waters recede in the coming months.
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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