Nigeria: Insurgency - Health Services Collapse in North East - NEMA Report

Health services have collapsed in states affected by the Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East, a report from the National Emergency Management Agency has said.The report, made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja Thursday, says that the insurgency has brought the health system to "total collapse" in most local government areas of Borno.


According to the report, 37 per cent of the primary health care centres in most affected local government areas have been shut because of the insurgency.The report further states that the existing health centres are overwhelmed by the number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) requiring health care assistance.It adds that in spite of relentless efforts from actors to attend to IDPs, the need for emergency health support is enormous.

"In spite of the of relentless efforts from actors on ground, the need for emergency health support are acute, especially regarding provision of health care for pre-existing conditions," the report states.

It also says that the risk of epidemics is high in states affected by the state of emergency but that WHO in partnership with the Ministry of Health in the affected states is carrying out disease surveillance in communities that are accessible.

Source: Daily Trust