Smallpox outbreak in Chad refugee camp

04/03/2014 12:58

Cases of smallpox are increasing in the Farchana refugee camp in eastern Chad. The camp is short of medicines. Speaking to Radio Dabanga, Abu Bakar Ahmed Abdallah, the deputy head of the Farchana camp, reported that the first cases of smallpox appeared two weeks ago.   He said that he appealed to the refugees not to rely on traditional medicines for the treatment of the disease, but go to a hospital instead. “However, the hospital lacks various kinds of medicines. Those in charge of treatment usually ask the patients to buy them from the pharmacy. The problem is that the refugees cannot afford to buy medicines from the market.” The deputy camp head called on the organisations working in the field of health care to accelerate the provision of medicines.  File photo:  A doctor of Doctors Without Borders examines a child in a refugee camp in the Central African Republic (MSF)

Cases of smallpox are increasing in the Farchana refugee camp in eastern Chad. The camp is short of medicines.

Speaking to Radio Dabanga, Abu Bakar Ahmed Abdallah, the deputy head of the Farchana camp, reported that the first cases of smallpox appeared two weeks ago.  

He said that he appealed to the refugees not to rely on traditional medicines for the treatment of the disease, but go to a hospital instead. “However, the hospital lacks various kinds of medicines. Those in charge of treatment usually ask the patients to buy them from the pharmacy. The problem is that the refugees cannot afford to buy medicines from the market.”

The deputy camp head called on the organisations working in the field of health care to accelerate the provision of medicines. 

File photo:  A doctor of Doctors Without Borders examines a child in a refugee camp in the Central African Republic (MSF)