NAN
The Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) in Niger State has distributed drugs to more than 600 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) at Central Primary School, Zungeru, to meet their medical needs.
The Chairman of the state chapter, Dr Abubakar Jibril, made this known to newsmen during a medical team’s visit to the IDPs camp on Tuesday.
He said the association was moved to action because of the health challenges that followed the flooding of Shiroro Local Government Area.
“This is what prompted us to give our own little assistance to these people. We would have done more than this; we thought of mounting a medical caravan on this camp and stay for like one week and treat the IDPs for free on numerous health challenges.
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“But our primary assignment will suffer and medical logistics will not permit us to do all what we have in mind as we are really constrained.”
He noted that the common ailments at the camp were malaria, cough, common cold and diarrhoea.
“It is not all of them that will adhere to using the treated mosquito net and that is why there could be malaria prevalence.
“We have just been told that there are no functional toilets; they defecate everywhere; with this, flies that come from there will cause them diarrhoea.
“Infectious diseases such as respiratory, common cold and cholera could thrive here because it is difficult to control the hygiene of this place.
Jibril said that besides malaria, respiratory infection drugs, the team also was also distributing anti-ulcer drugs because most of the IDPs might have ulcers as they might not be eating well.
“Some of them may also develop psychological depression because of the trauma they are passing through.
“Some of them may come also down with hypertension even heart disease because of the trauma of displacement”
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He commended the Niger Government for its intervention since the relocation of the IDPs from local government.
Earlier, the Camp Manager, Hajiya Saratu Waziri, expressed gratitude to NMA for complementing the efforts of the state government in the past one week.
“On behalf of Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), I want to say that this will go a long way for the IDPs.”
Waziri said that the state was putting appropriate measures in place to ensure that the Central Primary School pupils and teachers returned in the nearest future.
Meanwhile, Malam Mohammed Gimba, the Director, Primary Healthcare, Wushishi Local Government, said the health challenges facing the IDPs had been curtailed.
He stressed the need for appropriate measures to be put in place to ensure that the IDPs leave their current camp so that the pupils and teachers of the Central Primary School could return.
