Provision of Health Services to the Internally Displaced Persons in Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria: Collaborative Approach

Abstract

There is need to respond to the plight of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) amidst the growing number of calls for concerted efforts and better management. This can be facilitated through collaboration among the agencies responsible for the management of IDPs. The government of Nigeria and indeed Borno state government lacked the capacity to wholly manage the IDPs, hence, the need for the NGOs to assist the government in that regard. The study assesses the effect of collaboration among agencies in the management of the IDPs in Borno state. The obligatory humanistic theory was used in the study. The study adopted survey method and both primary and secondary data were used. The questionnaire, Interview, and Focus Group Discussion were used to obtained primary data. The study population is 2018 consisting of government officials, NGOs, and IDPs. The sample size of the study was 349 respondents; 333 government officials and 16 NGOs. Multi-staged sampling technique was used in selecting the sample. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used for analysis of the data obtained. ANOVA and chi-square were used to test the hypotheses. The study found out that inter-agency collaboration effort has significantly reduced the outbreak of disease in IDPs camps in Maiduguri. The IDPs have access to child and maternal cares services and all barriers to accessing quality healthcare services have been eliminated in camps in Maiduguri. The study concludes that inter-agency collaboration has been effective in the provision of healthcare services to IDPs in Borno state. The study, therefore, recommends among others that agencies should work out modality to ensure improved referral healthcare system.