WHO: One Third of Health Facilities in Borno State Have Been Destroyed

Martins Ifijeh
One third of more than 700 health facilities in Borno State have been completely destroyed, and of the facilities remaining, one third are not functioning at all, according to a report published by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

It said high insecurity, difficult terrain and lack of health workers, medicines, equipment and basic amenities such as safe water were making access to essential, lifesaving healthcare extremely difficult for people in the conflict-affected area.

According to WHO’s Representative in Nigeria, Dr. Wondi Alemu, the report identified 743 health facilities in Borno State, of which 35 per cent were completely destroyed, another 29 per cent partially damaged and only 34 per cent intact, adding that about 100 temporary health facilities have been set up to support the response, of which 49 were emergency clinics for displaced people living in camps.

“Of the 481 health facilities that have not been destroyed, 31 per cent of them are not functioning, mostly as a result of lack of access due to insecurity. Almost 60 per cent of health facilities have no access to safe water (32 per cent have no access to any water at all) and 3 out of 4 (73 per cent) facilities do not have enough chlorine stocks to decontaminate the water used in the facility.

“WHO has been working with the Borno State Ministry of Health to set up a Health Resources Availability Monitoring System (known as HeRAMS) to collect information on the availability of health resources and services in this humanitarian crisis.

He said top priority for the world health body was now to help save lives and prevent sicknesses among the estimated six million people who need health assistance in the terrorist-torn state.

Lending his voice, the Deputy Director, Planning, Research and Statistics, Ministry of Health, Borno State, and the HeRAMS task team chairman, Mr. Kadai Baba Gana said the information from the system was critical to inform the management of Borno State Ministry of Health and its partners on gaps that need to be addressed urgently. This will help us to better coordinate and monitor the response and guide the allocation of scarce resources.”

HeRAMS is a rapid online system used to monitor which health facilities, services and resources are available and accessible in emergency settings.

“Health workers are trained by WHO to enter key information into the system about the clinic or hospital where they work. This information includes the kind of services the facility can provide, whether the infrastructure has essential resources like electricity and water, the skills of health workers, and the type of services, equipment and medicines available as well as support received from external partners. Information is updated regularly to help monitor improvements or new gaps in services.

“Around 60 per cent of the health facilities in north-eastern Nigeria are currently being supported by one or more of the 18 health partners responding to the crisis,” he added.
According to him, WHO is working closely with the various partners to support the government to deliver essential lifesaving health services, gather and analyse key health information and prepare for and respond to disease outbreaks.

“WHO has a strong presence in the community in these areas thanks to a well-established polio programme which includes teams of health workers trained to work in areas of high insecurity and reach communities that no other partner can reach.

“However, more resources are needed. The United Nations and partners need US$ 94 million to provide health services to six million people, more than half of them children, in this crisis. Of this share, WHO needs US$ 31 million to deliver on its response plans in 2017,” he said.