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PublicationsInternational Activity Report 2009DjiboutiChild malnutrition rates in the shantytowns of Djibouti are high. This is partly because this small country is dependent on imports from abroad. Fluctuations in food prices affect its 800,000 inhabitants deeply, especially since 60 per cent of the people are unemployed. MSF is providing medical care for children aged between six months and five years who are suffering from acute malnutrition, particularly those who live in the shantytowns of the capital. Those forced to live in these shantytowns are mainly unregistered migrants, asylum seekers and poverty stricken Djiboutians who have fled drought ridden rural areas. Thousands come each month to swell the shantytowns located west of the city. Immigrants, who make up around 15 per cent of the population, generally live in precarious conditions. Moreover, according to the UNHCR, the country officially hosts some 10,000 refugees, most of them Somali. MSF medical teams take care of children with severe malnutrition in Balbala, a suburb of Djibouti City, where some 200,000 people live. Mobile teams are working their way through the Balbala, Hayableh, Arhiba and PK12 districts identifying those with severe malnutrition and referring them to health centers where they are treated. The most severe cases requiring hospitalization are brought to the MSF therapeutic feeding center for appropriate care. Over the last few months more than 14,000 children have been screened, 16 per cent of whom need further care. In 2009, MSF treated nearly 1,730 malnourished children under five years old. MSF has worked in Djibouti since 2008. |
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