Collaboration and the Provision of Child Health Care Service in Internally Displaced Persons Camps in Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria (Published)
The Boko Haram Terrorism has led to the displacement of a lot of people in Borno State. Majority of those displaced are children and are leaving in Maiduguri, the Borno State Capital. These children are mostly affected especially their health status. The need for the provision of effective health services for them cannot be over emphasized and this can be facilitated through collaboration among agencies. This study therefore, guided by the obligatory humanistic theory, assesses the impact of collaboration among agencies on the provision of healthcare for Children in Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps in Borno State. The study was conducted in the eleven (11) official camps in Maiduguri. The study employed both qualitative and quantitative techniques in generating data. In the case of primary data, questionnaire were administerd to government officials, Interview conducted with NGOs, and Focus Group Discussion was conducted with IDPs, while the secondary data were official records from Borno both descriptive and inferential statistics were used for analysis of the data obtained. The study found out there was agreement among the respondents that there health status of children in the camp has improved. There are health facilities in all the camps in Maiduguri which is maintained by both government health officials and NGOs. These agencies are saddled with the responsibilities of provision of qualitative child health care services and the services are collaboratively provided. There are consistent immunization services for the children by both the government and the NGOs. The total number of successful deliveries in the camps from 2014 to 2017 was 19097. This success was owing to qualitative antenatal care services. The study concludes that collaboration has been effective in the provision of healthcare needs of pediatrics in IDPs camps in Maiduguri. The study, therefore, recommends among others that agencies should work out a modality to ensuring that such facilities are provided in their return and reintegration efforts.
Keywords: Borno, Collaboration, Health Care, Internally Displaced Persons, children