In Tanzania, protecting refugees from cholera

Refugees at the Nyarugusu Camp receive the Oral Cholera Vaccine. (c) UNICEF Tanzania/2015/Thomas Lyimo.

Last week the Oral Cholera Vaccine, OCV, was administered at the Nyarugusu Refugee Camp, in Kigoma Region, Tanzania, to over 106,000 refugees from the Congo and – more recently – Burundi, out of an estimated camp population of 120,000 (children under the age of one were not vaccinated, hence the discrepancy in numbers). Medicins Sans Frontiers (MSF), who administered the vaccine, administered to Muslims observing Ramadan after sundown. We had been concerned whether the whole eligible community would receive the vaccine – and they did!

This is a significant event not only for the huge numbers of people who have been given the vaccine but also because it’s the first time the OCV has been administered in an emergency situation in Tanzania Mainland. Previously we simply relied on WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) interventions, by sensitizing the people on good practices to help prevent diseases. However, given that refugees are still arriving from Burundi, this compromises our WASH interventions as facilities are no longer sufficient to meet the growing numbers. What makes OCV special is that it can help to fill this gap easily and quickly.

I’m a Health Specialist at UNICEF and as such my part in the OCV campaign has been to support the social mobilization task force – which is a key aspect of the campaign’s success. In the camp, in partnership with the Tanzanian Red Cross Society, we have trained 121 health information volunteers – community workers from the refugee community. They conduct household visits providing key messages not only on the OCV, but also cholera prevention through appropriate hand washing at critical times, and safe latrine use.

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