Tanzania-Uganda and Zambia : more than 30 deaths after childbirth in Burundian refugee camps

Three clinics in Nyarugusu camps in Tanzania, Nakivale in Uganda and Meheba in Zambia have recorded nearly 30 post-natal deaths since the start of this year. These deaths are either pregnant women or stillborn children. Refugees denounce negligence by nurses. INFO SOS Médias Burundi

Tanzania

Health centers in zones 4 and 8 of Nyarugusu camp in Tanzania have recorded five deaths in maternity wards over the past two weeks.

“There were three stillbirths and two women who died during childbirth. All this, because of the negligence of maternity services which do not regularly monitor the woman and child”, denounce Burundian refugees.

These incidents have been frequent since the start of the year with more than ten deaths in these health structures.

“It’s deplorable, it shows that mother-child health here is not a priority. We call on the UNHCR to follow up on these clinics for the proper protection of our lives”, demand the refugees.

Uganda

Same case in Nakivale, Uganda.

In Nakivale camp, to try to overcome the problem of fatal incidents which kill pregnant women and newborns, clinics prefer to transfer emergency cases to “Rwekubo Health Center IV”, a hospital located around thirty km away of the camp.

But here too, patients struggle, according to several testimonies.

“We are required to pay for everything, from medical care and equipment to gloves and syringes. So, we who are poor cannot pay. Some are forced to give birth in the corridors due to lack of means to pay for rooms”, say Burundian women on site.

The problem has lasted more than eight months and has already claimed several victims.

“At least five deaths including two newborns, most in the last three months. It’s a shame. And this does not seem to worry the UNHCR”, they lament.

Zambia

In Meheba (Zambia), the refugees are no less unhappy.

Meheba Clinic D, is a public health center managed by the UNHCR. Its staff, considered sufficient in number, does not reflect the quality, according to Burundian refugees.

“Last week two women, Diane and Evelyne, almost lost their lives. They had gone there for the birth. The nurses at this health center gave them a bad reception. Imagine, they were helped to give birth by other female nurses while the nurses had turned them away”, testify refugees who criticize “a traditional birth on the bed of a modern health center.”

The latter accuse the staff of Meheba Clinic D of underestimating the refugees, minimizing their cases, which is not without consequences.

“There have been between seven and ten pregnant women dead and several stillborns since the start of this year. We ask the UNHCR and the camp administration to intervene as soon as possible to limit human damage”, insist the occupants of Meheba.

The occupants of these camps all agree that they blame the UNHCR and the host countries for not taking into consideration the mother-child health of refugees, an aspect which should, on the contrary, according to them, challenge humanitarians.

The camps of Nyarugusu (Tanzania), Nakivale (Uganda) and Meheba (Zambia) host respectively more than 50,000, more than 31,000 and more than 3,000 Burundian refugees.