End the suffering in northern region, MSF urges

The medical aid agency Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) urged the international community on Monday to act quickly to end the humanitarian crisis in northern Uganda, saying poor living conditions there had led to alarming child mortality rates.

An MSF statement said surveys conducted by the agency in October in six internally displaced person’s camps in Lira and Pader districts found a crude mortality rate (CMR) of 2.8 deaths/10,000 people per day for the general population.

According to internationally agreed benchmarks, a rate of more than two per 10,000 people a day is classified as an "emergency out of control", MSF said in the statement. The mortality rate was more alarming among children under five years of age at 5.4 deaths/10,000 children a day, with the rate as high as 10.5 deaths/10,000 children a day in one location, MSF added.

"The severity of the crisis requires urgent action from the international community and aid organisations," the MSF statement said.

"The extent of suffering is overwhelming and the situation remains critical," said Monica de Castellarnau, MSF's head of mission in Uganda was quoted in the statement as saying. "Not only do people live in constant insecurity, they lack basic resources and safe access to water, food and healthcare. Our findings show a situation that is beyond an acute emergency. We are doing what we can, but more assistance is needed immediately."

According to MSF, a mental-health survey in Pader town centre revealed that almost all respondents had been exposed to severe traumatic events since 2002; 63 percent reported the disappearance or abduction of a family member; 58 percent experienced the death of a family member due to the insurgency; 79 percent had witnessed torture; and 40 percent had witnessed at least one killing.

MSF said that another "very disturbing" figure was that five percent of the population had been forced to physically harm somebody.

"In its clinic in Pader, MSF has treated several patients for the consequences of failed suicide attempts," MSF said. "The survey also revealed that 62 percent of women interviewed think about committing suicide."

Violence, perpetrated mainly by the rebel Lord's Resistance Army during the past 18 years in their fight against the Ugandan government, has displaced an estimated 1.6 million people in northern Uganda. The rebel group has been accused of abducting 20,000 children.