Rwamwanja, Uganda — After surviving the trauma of forced displacement and insecurity, thousands of Congolese refugees are facing a new and potentially fatal danger in Uganda – malaria.
It’s also a challenge for UNHCR and its partners working at the Rwamwanja refugee settlement in western Uganda’s Kamwenge district. “It’s the rainy season so now is the time that people catch malaria. There are lots of mosquitoes,” said Evariste Kalozi, senior medical officer at Rwamwanja’s health centre. “They are not used to it,” he said of the refugees.
But the resources to deal with this threat are limited. There is only one health centre to service a population of more than 30,000 refugees and 35,000 Ugandans living in and around the settlement, which is spread over a wide area and includes 16 villages. Children are particularly at risk.
Moreover, the fighting and rebel advance last month across the border in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), raised fears of a major influx of refugees, which would exacerbate the situation. This has not happened to date, but the situation remains volatile and could change in the future.
In a funding appeal launched in September, UNHCR said the needs for this year in Rwamwanja included two new health facilities and equipment for the existing health centre as well as more medical staff, medicine and medical supplies. The settlement was only reopened in April to shelter refugees fleeing the first wave of this year’s conflict in DRC’s North Kivu province.
Kalozi said preventive measures were essential, including awareness campaigns about malaria and the importance of using mosquito nets and spraying the inside of homes with insecticide. “We have to inform the refugees about the disease and how important it is that they come to hospital quickly,” he stressed.
The medical players also need to be ready to help those who have caught malaria. “The incidence of malaria here is high. Children get sick from malaria, which eventually leads to anaemia. We have to be very quick [and treat them within 24 hours],” said Kalozi.
But UNHCR health worker Rose Immaculate said that it was a major challenge getting the refugees to understand the gravity of their situation because most hailed from mosquito-free hill areas of North Kivu. “We have given mosquito nets to the refugees, but they do not use them. They cut the mosquito nets and use them to tie the roof on their shelters” she said.