A season of death: How rains turn deadly in northern Nigeria

Country: Nigeria Source: Médecins Sans Frontières As the rainy season comes to Zamfara, MSF is responding to worsening diseases, food insecurity, and more. In northwestern Nigeria , the rainy season brings more than relief from the heat. It brings distress, disease, and preventable deaths. Between May and September each year, daily survival becomes a struggle as flooding, outbreaks of infectious diseases, and worsening food insecurity converge. For communities already affected by years of insecurity, the consequences are devastating. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) runs or supports four health care facilities across northern Nigeria that are treating the health issues worsened by the rainy season and food insecurity. Most of the illnesses and deaths during this season are preventable, but not everyone can access care when they need it. Diseases flourish after rains in Zamfara In Zamfara state, years of armed violence — including kidnappings, village raids, cattle rustling, and ambushes — have uprooted tens of thousands of people, shattered livelihoods, and severely restricted access to essential services. Communities face overwhelming barriers to accessing health care due to poverty, insecurity, long distances, and weak health infrastructure. When the rain arrives, the already fragile health situation worsens. “The rainy season affects the way we see patients,” explains Sani Adamu, nursing activity manager at an MSF hospital in Zamfara. “It increases the risks and transmission of many diseases like malaria , cholera , and other acute watery diarrheal diseases.” In places where sanitation is poor and water sources are unsafe, any contamination can spread quickly. ... Children play in this water, households use it, and people fall sick. As rainwater collects in stagnan...

Original source: Relief Web