20,000+ Assisted in Refugee Camps, Kenya
Dorcas, in cooperation with Medical Teams International (MTI) and a number of other INGOs, are assisting thousands of IDPs (Internally Displaced People) in the districts of Nakuru and Molo in Kenya. The IDPs are families that were forced to flee the violence following last December's controversial elections and now live in refugee camps where the living-conditions are very difficult.
One of the most urgent needs in the camps is primary health care.
-"The help came at a critical time", says Joe DiCarlo, from Dorcas' partner MTI "hygiene, clean water and medical care are minimal in these makeshift camps, so disease outbreaks can run rampant. Malaria, upper respiratory infections and diarrhea escalate in these conditions, and without medicines, turn deadly. Children and the elderly are especially vulnerable in the camps."
23,423 persons in the camps have been treated since January this year (situation March 28, 2008).
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