Water access and distance from care affect malnutrition
Much of the population in Afar is traditionally nomadic and pastoral, moving with herds of camels, goats, and cattle in search of grazing and water, which is a constant task. Water from the Awash river contains bacteria and high levels of minerals, and is not recommended for consumption, yet many communities depend on it. This water has been the source of cholera outbreaks in the past.
Afar has some of the lowest health indicators in Ethiopia, including high infant mortality rates, widespread child stunting, and the highest proportion of underweight children in the country. These challenges have been aggravated by a sharp reduction in mobile health and nutrition teams that usually bring medical services closer to remote and pastoralist communities.
“Distance is one of the biggest barriers to care here,” says Emmanuelle Quet, MSF project coordinator in Afar. “Families often travel for hours to reach the nearest health post and sometimes days to reach the hospital. Any disruption like flooded roads or lack of transport can mean a child doesn’t get treated in time.”
Access to certain areas within Afar is challenging not only for patients, but also for MSF teams. Recently, an MSF team spent more than six hours covering just 20 to 25 miles, and our nurses and drivers had to push the vehicles out of the mud to ensure Plumpy’Nut therapeutic food reached families in need of their weekly lifesaving nutrition. Only a few days earlier, an outreach team became stuck while transporting a child being referred to MSF’s inpatient therapeutic feeding center for urgent care, resulting in a life-threatening delay for the child. Despite the challenges, the team managed to reach the facility to provide timely lifesaving care for the patient.
