The Chairman, Committee on Health and Human Services in the Benue state House of Assembly, Dr. Adoga Onah, has decried the lack of vaccines and medical personnel at the Internally Displaced Persons (lDPs) camps. This, according to him, has put thousands of children at risk of vaccine preventable diseases such as polio, tuberculosis and measles.
Onah, who spoke with newsmen yesterday in Makurdi, also revealed that the 23 general hospitals across the state were equally suffering from inadequate medical doctors and other relevant health workers. He said initially all the doctors and other health workers agreed to go to IDPs camps to render services to the people, but due to delay in salary payment which resulted in arrears, their spirits were dampened and they stopped visiting the camps. “Look at the state of health of the IDPs especially the children and the pregnant women at the camps now. They are dying almost on a daily basis. There are no doctors and other health workers to attend to them.
“In as much as I appreciate the efforts of the Benue government towards the welfare of the IDPs, I am not satisfied with regards to the state of health of people at the camps particularly the elderly, children and women. When the system is not functioning well it affects every other system. “IDPs camps are recording serious deterioration of health issues due to absence of medical workers just because the system has totally collapse. It is not enough for the government of the state to open the place, but there is need for the government to sustain what it has started,” he said.
