FROM THE FIELD
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“This is a protracted emergency and we can’t simply wait for the
rains to come," said Linda Doull, Merlin's Director of Health and Policy. “People are in need, and we urge world leaders to take action to help them, now and for the longer term."
Food shortage preys on children first
Children are the most vulnerable as the drought pushes the region into spiraling levels of malnutrition. This compounds the effects of other diseases such as malaria, diarrhoea as
well as acute respiratory infections and children often become too weak to feed. Without clean water, diarrhoeal diseases such as cholera spread quickly.
Merlin is working in five of the affected countries in East and Central Africa
In countries impacted by the drought, Merlin is providing
health support and managing malnutrition within communities in conjunction with Ministries of Health to help families survive the crisis.
Kenya:
People walk an average of 35 kilometers to reach water and the cost of staples has tripled. Merlin operates mobile clinics with extensive reach to assist the pastoral Turkana tribe.
Ethiopia: Seasonal rains never arrived, crops failed and 6.2 million people will need food assistance throughout the rest of 2009. Merlin’s
water project, health education, malnutrition screening and nutritional treatment programmes are ongoing to help communities cope.
Somalia: 3.7
million people are in need and one in six children are acutely malnourished. Merlin is responding to the nutritional needs of children under five years of age in Somaliland.
South Sudan: Merlin continues to provide health care to around 20,000 people every month. Many are mothers and children who are the most vulnerable to disease and
malnutrition.
Central African Republic: While trying to build a health workforce in a country facing a critical shortage, Merlin is also
providing nutrition programmes.
Health workers are overwhelmed and under-resourced
“The job would be very different if Merlin didn’t support this facility,� said Christopher Ekai, a Kenyan Ministry of Health Nurse
at the Turkwell outreach clinic. “I get these children who are malnourished, but the Ministry of Health doesn’t have a programme to give nutritional supplements to
the children.�
Find out more about our work around the world
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
