IOM scales up healthcare operations for Rohingyas
11 Dec 2017, 23:20
Dhaka: International Organization for Migration (IOM) now runs 13 health posts and one primary healthcare centre for Rohingyas in Cox’s Bazar as the UN migration agency has scaled up its operations.
The IOM has been providing healthcare to Rohingyas and local Bangladeshis living in Cox’s Bazar since 2013, reports the UNB.
It also supports nine government health facilities and works with over 350 community health workers - making it one of the largest health responders on the ground.
‘Initially, those who crossed the border were traumatised in every aspect, particularly with regards to health,’ the IOM quoted Civil Surgeon Dr Md Abdus Salam, responsible for overseeing healthcare in the Cox’s Bazar district, as saying.
He said most were injured - bullet injuries, mine blasts and sexual assaults—and they were also poorly immunised and malnourished.
‘Our partners, including IOM, also deployed more than 30 medical teams to respond to the urgent health needs of those crossing the border,’ Dr Salam said.
