Health & Care

In this project, the Nigerian Red Cross Society focuses on strengthening the health care systems in refugee host communities.  The project supports 35 Primary Health care Centres (PHC) across Akwa Ibom, Benue, Cross River, Taraba, Lagos and Oyo States.

It provides free medical care for persons of concern (PoCs); providing support for secondary and tertiary care referral care across all locations; and support with ambulance services for urban refugees in Lagos, Ogun and FCT.

NRCS will support free delivery of healthcare to pregnant women, children under 5 years of age, the elderly (above 60 years of age) and most vulnerable including but not limited to the disabled and the mentally ill.

Supported by the International Committee of the Red Cross

Health Care in Danger (HCID) is an initiative of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement aimed at addressing the issue of violence against patients, health workers, facilities and vehicles, and ensuring safe access to and delivery of health care in armed conflict and other emergencies.

• 13 Branches were selected based on performance.
• Activities include; Advocacy, sensitization meetings, assessment, media engagement & Road shows
• Delay in commencement of implementation

• Has been confirmed so far in 26 states
• Supported Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Lagos, Osun, and FCT with road shows, jingles, vaccination, and House-House sensitization.
• Intend to expand Diptheria Intervention to 7 more states
• IFRC has launched an appeal for further support.
• Challenge: Continuous outbreak of new infections reported

Plan for Bayelsa & Kano

• Engagement of 876 volunteers in Bayelsa & 2039 in Kano for House to House mobilization/demand creation

Challenge: Unstable timeline

• Imo, FCT & Lagos
• Focus Group Discussion with community members on WASH assessment (water source, storage laterin and bathroom use.
• Practical sessions on water purification processes.

• Our community-based health programme is built around the Community-Based Health and First Aid.
• Red Cross Volunteers conducting a training-2023
• We teach nursing mothers, maternal, neonatal, TBA training and child health which are aimed at reducing maternal and child morbidity and mortality through our network of volunteers.
• We also train mothers on good nutrition, and how to recognize danger signs in pregnancy, early referrals, disease prevention and personal hygiene and COVID-19 prevention protocols.

“Without mental health, there can be no true physical health”.

Dr Brock Chisholm,

Former Director-General, World Health Organization, mental health is more than the absence of mental disorders. It is a state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realize their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community.

It is an integral component of health and well-being that underpins our individual and collective abilities to make decisions, build relationships and shape the world we live in. Mental health is a basic human right. And it is crucial to personal, community and socio-economic development.

Particularly when disasters strike, people go through a lot and are put under intense pressure. This is where we come in. In times of crisis, mental health is often the first casualty. The mental health of vulnerable populations is often affected and as a result, the demand for psychosocial support has increased. Our health and Disaster Management programs work with each other to ease the mental, physical, emotional and social well-being of people affected by catastrophes.

Now, these date back quite a while.

But first…

An estimated 2 million children suffer from severe and acute malnutrition in Nigeria but currently only 2 out of every 10 children is reached with treatment. The high prevalence of malnutrition poses a severe public health and developmental challenge for the country. Stunting indicates a long term nutritional deficit.

A few years ago, we noticed that many children in our intervention areas were malnourished. They were small for their ages and visibly showed signs of wasting.

When we spoke to the mothers, many of them pointed out that there had been a severe drought and that the fear of banditry kept many people from daring to go to their farms.

As a result, food was scarce and prices were high.

We then decided to set up a group of women into collectives which we called the ‘mothers clubs’. In these groups, we taught the mothers skills they could use to feed their families and make extra money to take care of the children.

We also showed these mothers that right there in their environments, there were affordable, accessible and nourishing foods that their children could eat and grow healthy.

After a period of training, we set up these mothers' clubs with cash grants to the women. And 4-5 years don the line, some of these women are still going strong. They continue to plough back the profits into their businesses and continue to do very well for themselves.

As we organize other programmes, we’ll be sure to update this list.