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Real Medicine Nigeria – Restoration of Free Clinic for Children in the Makoko Slum

July 20, 2007 - Nigeria

Makoko is a shantytown in Lagos State with an estimated population of 50,000 people. The majority live in wooden huts built on stilts sunk into the dark waters of the Lagos lagoon. Makoko waterside inhabitants are mainly fishermen, who go out to fish in the night and stay indoors during the day, while the women take the fish to sell in the market or to dry. The maximum family income is about $50/month. The vast majority lives on less than $1 a day. The social infrastructure in Makoko is very poor. The mainland does not have good roads, the area lacks potable water and the waterside is devoid of a sewage disposal system. This results in high morbidity from malaria, diarrhea and other infectious diseases. To reduce the high morbidity and mortality, medical volunteers in conjunction with the Nigerian Red Cross organized a free clinic for children under the age of five years in 2001.

This clinic also provided care for the children in the motherless babies’ home being run by the Nigerian Red Cross in the area. The clinic was shut down the following year because of lack of support from other stakeholders.

Real Medicine Foundation is restoring this Free Clinic for Children in the Makoko Slum, Lagos, Nigeria, to provide free pediatric care services to the estimated 15,000 children under the age of 12 years (primary school age) in this Lagos slum.

To read more about this project…