20. Cameroon hospitals overwhelmed by child refugees – with thirteen dying each day

News from Plan: Hospitals are stretched in Cameroon as thousands of refugees from the Central African Republic continue to cross the border.

An estimated 13 refugee children are dying in Cameroon every day, according to figures from the UN’s Office for the Co-Ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA). Around 40 per cent of children are suffering from acute malnutrition.

More than 103,000 refugees have now crossed into Cameroon from the Central African Republic since the start of this year, latest figures suggest.

‘More than half the refugees in the region are under the age of 18, including unaccompanied children and teenage mothers,’ says Barro Famari, Plan’s Country Director in Cameroon. He adds:

‘The children are very vulnerable with many suffering from severe malnutrition and a significant number are developing serious complications.

‘The capacities of hospitals are stretched as there are an overwhelming number of sick children with very limited health personnel and drugs.’

Plan is a global children's charity working with children in the poorest countries to help them build a better future: http://www.plan-uk.org/