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Abstract

Nigeria accounts for a high percentage of globally displaced persons, most of whom are women and children. Health conditions of women and children in camps of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) have been topical, and so much of concern is on their access to quality healthcare services in the camps. The study adopts Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) in capturing responses of 12 officials from the Kuje and Fariya IDP Camps in Abuja and Maiduguri respectively. It also adopted the use of thematic analysis in analyzing the data. Findings showed that healthcare facilities exist in these camps, despite occurrences indicating poor health conditions of the IDPs. The study concluded that health inequities persist in both camps, and that the challenges facing the available health facilities should be adequately addressed. Among the challenges were corruption, poor staffing, poor environmental conditions, bureaucratic bottlenecks, and absence of adequate and well-trained social service professionals.

Author Biography

Ijeoma Igwe holds a Doctorate in population studies. She is currently a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Sociology/Anthropology, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, with research interests in population, health, gender, and development. She has participated in funded studies by the World Health Organization and World Bank within her areas of expertise and is published in several refereed journals.

Prince Agwu is an academic staff and researcher in the Department of Social Work and the Health Policy Research Group, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. His research interests are in areas of social policy and social determinants of health. He has to his credit several publications in refereed journals and has attracted and participated in some funded studies.

Uzoma Odera Okoye is a Professor in the Department of Social Work at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka Enugu State, Nigeria. She obtained her Doctor of Philosophy degree in Social Work. She teaches and researches in areas of family social work, social work practice methods, social gerontology and policy fields, and has published widely in refereed journals. Uzoma has completed projects with international agencies.

Nkechi Onyeneho has had a tenured position at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria since 2005 and was appointed Professor of Medical Sociology/Anthropology in 2017. She is a research expert on health systems, neglected tropical diseases, and marginalized groups access to health care, and has several refereed publications in these areas. Nkechi focuses on multidisciplinary team research with mixed research capability. She works closely with several international agencies.

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