Health promotion

In the cramped and often insanitary conditions of a camp, it is extremely difficult to keep healthy. Simply providing people with clean water, toilets, mosquito nets, and insecticides does not ensure that they will be used effectively.

We focus on controlling diseases that cause diarrhoea and malaria - two of the biggest potential killers. Malaria kills one million people every year*, one third of whom are in emergency situations at the time. Floods in particular create ideal conditions for mosquito larvae to breed.

Spreading the message

We train health promotors (usually displaced people themselves) to work with their communities. They help people understand the health risks their situation may expose them to, and build on what people already know, to establish good hygiene practices.

Regular hand-washing, food protection, good domestic hygiene, and safe waste disposal, have been shown to reduce diseases that cause diarrhoea far more than supplying clean water alone.

Oxfam in action: Making fun of a serious issue

Distributing essential items

Often, people in an emergency will have lost almost everything. We give out hygiene kits containing essential items (such as an Oxfam bucket, scrubbing brush, soap, toothpaste, detergent, shampoo, candles, matches and sanitary items) which can, when used correctly, help save lives.