Health crisis on Philippine island

Water, sanitation and hygiene conditions have been pushed to the brink for hundreds of thousands of people homeless on the island of Mindano. More than 250,000 people uprooted by fighting are still to return home on the Southern Philippines island. Most are now staying in about 150 camps, where conditions have started to deteriorate to an alarming state, health officials warned today. "The situation is critical," Rose Ebus, director of, a local aid organisation told Reuters news service, calling for improvements to facilities.

For decades, government forces have been fighting Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), guerrilla fighters who want a separate Muslim homeland in the southern Philippines. About 300,000 people have fled their homes since violence intensified when a peace deal with the government collapsed, last year and many are living in makeshift tents. After longer than six months as internal refugees, many people are feeling the strain, mentally and physically. Having left behind their farms and possessions, they have no way of making a living. The old and the very young are the most vulnerable. And now poor sanitation means many are at risk of disease.

The makeshift camps the homeless are living in still do not have sufficient water and sanitation facilities, said Aid agency, Oxfam’s Paul Rosario. Meanwhile the proper maintenance of existing facilities has deteriorated."There is a growing indication that the situation in conflict-affected communities in Central Mindanao is once again heading for deterioration," Mr Rosario said. "Hygiene promotion activities are already on a decline. Seemingly it is only a matter of time before people are again exposed to great public health risks." And the warning signs are already there. Common health complaints in the camps include diarrhoea, malnutrition, parasites and chest infections. At least two children have died of acute watery diarrhoea at the Lumpong IDP evacuation centre in Datu Odin Sinsuat, according to the news service.

In most of the camps it is very hard to get access to drinkable, and many camps suffer from an acute shortage of latrines and water points, as well as sanitation. Almost 42,000 people had to share 61 water points and 165 latrines – one water point for 680 people and one latrine for 252, according to figures from July. At the Notre Dame Dulawan evacuation centre in Data Piang, some 300 families or 1,500 people share just two latrines and a handful of water points for water and washing.

By Hayley Jarvis for SOS Children