Tanzania : unilateral reduction of aid for refugees suffering from chronic diseases

The measure is due to the decision of the American Administration which suspended the external aid of which several humanitarian NGOs are beneficiaries. Refugees who received daily medicines to treat chronic diseases in Nduta and Nyarugusu indicate that they are finally left behind.

INFO SOS Médias Burundi

The bitter briefing was first given to the staff of “Medical Team International (MTI)”, a humanitarian NGO which takes care of people suffering from chronic diseases in Nduta and Nyarugusu, two large refugee camps in Tanzania.

The staff is strongly recommended to divide by three the lot of medicines which are also reserved for a patient.

The most affected are those suffering from diabetes, HIV-AIDS, hypertensive patients, asthmatics, etc.

“Instead of giving a patient a three-month package, we are providing them with a batch that will only cover one month. This is also valid for those who are repatriated,” said a medical volunteer.

Medical Team International explained that it is short of budget.

“We do not have a budget for 2025, we are using a little of the rest of 2024. So, we want to make sure that the stock we have can be enough for the three-month period that President Donald Trump has set for himself to perhaps re-unblock funding. We have no choice, unfortunately,” explained an MTI official during the briefing.

The number of staff will also be reduced while waiting for a possible refinancing of this NGO.

It is therefore a total desolation for several refugees who are undergoing long-term treatment. For them, the suspension of their health aid is a sign of their death.

A medical source assures that the measure has already produced its harmful effects.

“We are receiving more serious cases. Some are no longer taking their medication properly for fear that the following month they will no longer be able to be supplied. Others are suffering from psychological problems linked to this measure,” our source emphasizes.

“We fear the worst if nothing is done to protect the refugees,” she notes, analyzing that all the NGOs that operate with the American funding will close one after the other.

The Nduta and Nyarugusu camps located in the Kigoma region in northwestern Tanzania, host more than 170,000 refugees, including more than 100,000 Burundians, the rest being of Congolese origin.

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A Burundian refugee prepares food for her children in the Nduta camp in Tanzania (SOS Médias Burundi)