refugee health: lessons learned from jordan in response to the refugee crisis
Post on 12-Jan-2016
218 Views
Preview:
TRANSCRIPT
Refugee health: Lessons learned from Jordan in response to the refugee crisis
Za’atari Refugee Camp, Mafraq, Jordan
Registered Syrian Refugees in Jordan August 2014
Jordan613,252
Za’atari Camp79,562
Azraq Camp
11,443
King Abdullah Park & Cyber City Camps
1,180
Host Communities
521,067
Age Demographics
Host Communities: North
Host Communities: Central
Host Communities: South
Za'atari Camp
Azraq Camp
Other Camps
Iraqi and Other Refugees in Jordan
• Approx. 28,000 Iraqi refugees living mainly in Amman, Zarqa, Irbid, and Mafraq• Approximately 4,350 Sudanese, Somali, and other refugees in Jordan, living
mainly in small communities in Amman.• Non-Syrian refugee groups in Jordan are generally older populations (registered)
Percentage of registered refugees between 18-59 (UNHCR, June 2014)
22% Syrian
55.5% Iraqi
67.9% Other
Division Refugee Populations in Jordan
Syrian
Iraqi
Somali, Su-danese, other
Major Health Problems for Syrian Refugees
Non-communicable, chronic diseases
(NCDs)
Hypertension, diabetes,
cardiovascular disease, asthma
Communicable diseases, acute
illness
Polio, measles, other severe contagious
diseases
Infections, parasites, skin conditions, gastro-
intestinal issues, seasonal illness
Conflict-related or other injuries,
wounds, disabilities
Women’s health issues
Reproductive health issues,
HIV/STDs
Health Intervention CHALLENGES
Discrimination against refugees, refusal of service
Documentation requirements
prevent access to services
Distance and cost of transport to health centers
Lacking awareness of rights and
available healthcare services
Care-seeking practices are reactive, not preventative
Lack of education on health risks
and healthy lifestyle practices
Refugee mistrust of healthcare
system in Jordan
Lack of follow-up after initial treatment
Lack of women’s access to healthcare system and health
education
Lacking supply of medications,
medical equipment, number of facilities,
qualified staff
IRD health interventions address
all of these issues.
The IRD Strategy
• Community-level health referral system
• Awareness of health services
• Education and preventative self-healthcare
Empowerment and self-management of refugees
• Medical supplies and equipment
• MoH staff training• Vaccination and health
education campaigns
Building capacity of existing host country institutions
NGO/Aid Partners (UNHCR, UNICEF)
Community Health
Workers (CHWs)
MoH
Key IRD Health Partners
IRD Health Intervention AchievementsOver the last 4 years, IRD has implemented two health interventions
for Syrian and Iraqi Refugees and achieved significant outcomes.
47,538 home visits
91,659 referrals to
MoH centers (1,500
monthly)
32,549 patients served
53 health education and 2 vaccination
campaigns supported
70,000 (approx ).
campaign beneficiaries
1,449 MoH healthcare
staff trained
26 MoH centers served
IRD Health Intervention Achievements
20% refugee beneficiaries surveyed using MoH clinics
• Baseline study (2010)
93% refugee beneficiaries surveyed using MoH clinics
• Endline study (2014)
More Endline Data• 71% patients said
service was better than expected
• 97% of patients said they would visit MoH clinics again
• 95% of patients were satisfied with MoH clinics services
Challenges/Lessons Learned
Delays in obtaining required approval of program action plan from government ministries caused delays in implementation
Periodic turn-over in the health director position over the life of the program caused some confusion
Intensive and time-consuming administrative, financial, and follow-up procedures for equipment donation
Security-related delays in program activity in certain areas (Ma’an, Karak)
Barriers to provision of subsidized services to Iraqi refugees due to changes in internal MoH regulations
Limited capacity of some local partners to complete technical/financial reports
Limited funding to address additional needs
Future Steps
Continue and enhance effective collaboration with MoH, including capacity-building for staff and provision of equipment and supplies
Increase number of partnerships MoH health centers throughout Jordan in order to serve increasing number of refugees in Jordan’s governorates
Provide more feedback to MoH on quality of services based on refugee patient exit interviews collected by CHWs
Train and involve refugees as peer-to-peer educators in promoting national health education campaigns
Work with more local organizations targeting at-risk groups to ensure that none are left out of healthcare access
Work toward building coalition of national and international agencies that serves refugees in Jordan in order to strengthen collaboration.
top related