Social Workers Deployed To IDP Camps To Tackle Trauma - Borno Govt

The Borno Government said on Sunday that it had deployed social workers to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps to tackle rising cases of trauma and psychiatric problems among displaced persons.

 Dr Muhammad Ghuluze, the Director, Emergency Medical Response Department in the state’s Ministry of Health, stated this while fielding questions from the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Maiduguri.

Ghuluze explained that the objective was to assist the displaced persons who suffered trauma due to the activities of the insurgents.

 He said that the ministry had established clinics in almost all the IDP camps in the state last year.

 Ghuluze said that the ministry had also deployed doctors, nurses, midwives and other health workers to ensure proper management of the clinics.

 “We have already set up medical clinics in 18 out of the 21 IDP camps in Maiduguri, with the aim of providing medical services to the displaced persons.

 “We have recently mobilised social workers including psychiatric doctors to the clinics after we discovered high rate of psychiatric disorders in the camps.”

 Ghuluze added: “The social workers will co-exist with the other medical and health workers in the clinic for effective service delivery.

 “The idea is to provide easy access to those in need of such services”.

 He said that the ministry had ensured regular supply of drugs to the clinics.

 “We have been supplying drugs to the clinics for treatment of minor ailments.

 “The camps staff have been empowered to refer patients requiring further attention to the Specialists Hospital for treatment free of charge.”

 He said that the ministry had also distributed thousands of insecticidal treated mosquito nets to the IDP camps to protect them from malaria scourge.

 “We have distributed Insecticidal Mosquito Nets to all the IDP camps as part of the Roll Back Malaria programme.

 “Once, a camp was set up by the government, we simply supply equal number of mosquito nets to the IDPs in the camp.”

 He said, however, that the continued influx of displaced persons into the camps had led to scarcity of the nets.

 “We have noticed inadequacy in the distribution of the mosquito nets due largely to the influx of new persons into the camps.

 “We have taken notice of the problem for immediate action,” assured the permanent secretary. (NAN)