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Health Concerns for Somali-Bantu Refugees

Recommendations from the Office of Global Health Affairs (exit DHFS, PDF, 615 KB)

• STD’s

  • HIV/AIDS

  • The prevalence in Somalia is only 1%, however this can be as much as six times higher in refugee camps. Somali refugees should be considered to be at significant risk.

• Sexually Transmitted Diseases are more common in refugee camps.

• Communicable Diseases 

• Tuberculosis

• Diarrhea disease (responsible for 16.9% of deaths in Somali children)

  • Shigellosis

  • Cholera

• Pneumonia (responsible for 41% of deaths in Somali children)

• Measles

• Meningococcal Meningitis

• Lice and Scabies

• Hepatitis B

• Typhoid Fever

• Trachoma

• Dengue Fever

• Hansen’s Disease

• Intestinal Parasites (often lead to anemia, anorexia, diarrhea)

  • Strongyloides

  • Ascaris

  • Tapeworms

  • Giardia

  • Hookworm

  • Enterobius

  • Trichuris

• Non-Intestinal Parasites

  • Filariasis

  • Leishmaniasis

  • Schistosomiasis

  • Roundworms

  • Malaria

• Female Genital Cutting (FGC), common among girls 8–10 years of age, can lead to:

  • Chronic Pelvic Infections

  • Infertility

  • Cervical cancer

  • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

  • Maternal Morbidity and Mortality

• Malnutrition

  • Iron-Deficiency Anemia (44-71% of pregnant Somali’s are anemic)

  • Low birth weight children

  • Vitamin A deficiency (Xerophthalmia)

• Dental Caries

• Mental Health

  • WHO estimates that 50% of refugees suffer from mental disorders

  • Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome due to decades of civil war

  • Depression

  • Anxiety

• Recommended laboratory tests for Somali-Bantu refugees:

  • Nutritional assessment

  • Stool for ova and parasites

  • Hepatitis B surface antigen

  • Hemoglobin or hematocrit

  • VDRL

  • HIV

  • PPD

  • Peripheral smear for malaria should be considered

References:

The following links are to programs outside of the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services--Division of Public Health, and are provided here as additional reference information. 

• American Public Health Association (APHA). (2001). East Africa Case Study: Somalia. http://www.apha.org/ppp/red/sommorbid.htm
• Cultural Orientation Project's profile on the Somali-Bantu:
  http://www.culturalorientation.net/bantu/somali_bantu.pdf  (PDF)
• El-Awady, Aisha. (2003). Refugees: Trapped In Misery. http://www.islamonline.net/english/science/2003/01/article02.shtml  
• Owens, Christine Wilson. (2004). Somali Bantu Refugees. http://ethnomed.org/ethnomed/cultures/somali/somali_bantu.html  
• Rasbridge, Lance A. Ph.D (2000). Somalis. http://www3.baylor.edu/~Charles_Kemp/somali_refugees.htm  

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Last Revised:  December 19, 2007