With a population of over 190 million, Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and the seventh most populous country in the world.
One of the fastest growing economies in the world, petroleum and oil resources play a large role in Nigerian economic prospects. However, the security situation in many areas of the country has deteriorated in recent years, and violence and displacement have taken their toll on people’s health.
MSF has been responding to disease outbreaks and emergency health needs in Nigeria since 1971, focusing on maternal and paediatric healthcare throughout the country.
Homa Bay has the highest rate of HIV infection in the country, with over 24% of the population of the county testing positive to the virus, and 2% of the population infected every year. MSF supports both inpatient and outpatient services in 33 facilities in Ndhiwa subcounty, in addition to two wards for patients with advanced HIV-related diseases. MSF also supports the tuberculosis (TB) ward at Homa Bay county referral hospital, treating patients with both drug-sensitive and drug-resistant strains of the disease.
The Dadaab refugee camps in northeast Kenya have sheltered refugees for over 25 years.
The camps came under threat in 2016 when the Kenyan government announced their intended closure, citing economic, security and environmental concerns. The decision would have forced the inhabitants, nearly 250,000 Somali refugees, to return to Somalia, where there is limited access to healthcare and ongoing insecurity.
In February 2017, in a ruling that was welcomed by MSF, the High Court of Kenya put a stop to the government’s plans to close the Dadaab camps.
In Dagahaley camp in Dadaab, MSF runs two health posts, as well as a hospital for more complicated cases. The teams in Dagahaley provide sexual and reproductive healthcare, surgery, medical and psychological assistance for victims of sexual violence, mental health support, treatment for HIV and tuberculosis (TB), palliative care for patients with chronic illnesses, home-based insulin management for patients with diabetes, and emergency response services.
Since May 2013, a violent insurrection by armed groups has forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes in northeast Nigeria. As such, a humanitarian crisis is raging in the Lake Chad region.
Vast numbers of people have been caught up in the conflict, and their access to medical services has been greatly reduced. Access to areas held by armed opposition groups, or contested by the two sides, has been restricted, and little is known about the needs of people in these locations.
In 2017, MSF began the handover of several projects.
MSF is now supporting Ministry of Health facilities to deliver drug-resistant TB (DR-TB) services in Nairobi, and staff in the city will continue to oversee hepatitis C treatment until all patients have completed their courses of medication.
In June 2017, MSF handed over the facility it had been running for 20 years in Kibera, the biggest slum in Africa. The people from Kibera refer to it as "kijiji," which means village in Swahili. The project, which started as a small clinic in 1997, has grown into a major health facility providing comprehensive primary and secondary healthcare, including care for TB, HIV, non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such as epilepsy and asthma, and sexual and gender-based violence, as well as ante- and postnatal services and deliveries.
MSF teams are currently mentoring Ministry of Health staff in the management and care of non-communicable diseases in seven locations. They share the results with other organisations with the aim of increasing access to care for these conditions elsewhere. Teams also responded to outbreaks of cholera in Nairobi and Dadaab, chikungunya in Mombasa, and malnutrition in the region formerly known as North Eastern Province
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Thousands have been killed in conflict, and many more by malnutrition, measles and malaria. People are unable to farm or sell their goods and mass displacement has resulted in catastrophic living conditions.
In some enclaves controlled by the military, people are unable to farm or fish due to restrictions on their movements, making them heavily dependent on humanitarian assistance.
Despite the insecurity and challenges in accessing many areas, we have teams in Borno and Yobe providing healthcare and responding to emergencies in fixed and mobile facilities. Our staff manage mental health activities, monitor food, water and shelter needs, and respond to disease outbreaks.
MSF conducts monitoring for epidemic-prone diseases such as meningitis, measles, cholera and Lassa fever. We run mass vaccination campaigns across the country and our teams also provide seasonal malaria chemoprevention.
Another MSF staff help run maternity and neonatal departments and support basic obstetrics in health centres to reduce complications during pregnancy.
MSF supports a reconstructive surgery project in the Noma Children’s Hospital in Sokoto for patients with Noma disease and other conditions. As well as surgery, the team provides pre- and post-operative care and mental health support and active case finding in the region.
It is estimated that nearly sixty-thousand women die from complications during pregnancy and childbirth every year in Nigeria, and one in eight children dies before the age of five. © Verli / MSF
We run a program for victims of sexual and gender-based violence in Rivers state, organising outreach and community-based awareness activities in schools, police stations and through media. The project also includes preventive treatment for sexually transmitted infections, emergency contraception, counselling and psychosocial support.
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