The World Health Organisation, WHO, has said that a total $13.5 million will be needed to cater for the health needs of peole living in Internally Displaced Persons’ Camps in Borno State.

This was made known over the weekend at the presentation of emergency medical supplies which was intended to cater for 75,000 IDPs in Mafa and Dikwa camps, two of the 15 communities liberated by the Nigerian army.

Rex Mpazanje, leader of the World Health delegation said that the organisation “is committed to supporting the government of Borno state and other parts of Northeast Nigeria to continue to have access to health services including those in the hardest to access areas through the provision of emergency lifesaving medicines which currently are urgently needed.”

He said that the WHO has appealed for $13.5 million to support health interventions until the end of 2016 out of which only $2 million has been received, leaving a funding gap of 82%.

The medical supplies, comprising of emergency Health Kits, Malaria and Post-exposure prophylaxis kits, as well as drugs to treat 15,000 people for three months, are expected to be distributed to the health facilities in each of the camps and to mobile health teams.

Permanent Secretary of the Borno State Ministry of Health, Abubakar Hassan, who received the items on behalf of the state government, expressed his appreciation for the timely provision of the much needed medical supplies.

“Many of the IDP health facilities in the state are in need of such assistance and WHO’s assistance has therefore come in at the right time” he said.

Dikwa and Mafa camps were selected for the intervention following an assessment which showed high level of Malaria and Acute Respiratory Tract Infections in the camps.

The assessment also revealed that patients in the camps who were suffering from chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension were unable to access adequate Medicare.