NYARUGUSU 14TH-17TH SEPTEMBER

Image: Christophe Viseux

This September ‘One World One Smile’ is coordinating a joint Tanzanian National and International dental effort to treat some of the 150,000 refugees in the Nyarugusu refugee camp, Tanzania. 

Dentists are joining together in Tanzania this September to provide much needed dental care in the Nyarugusu Refugee Camp in the Kigoma District. The estimated 150,000 refugees residing here are mainly Congolese and Burundian, having fled from their respective national violence and human rights abuses.  

 Oral health needs are often not included in a health response during such a crisis. Refugees are unable to leave the camp unless there is an emergency. Due to this and strained resources, many oral health issues may go untreated for years.  

 MSF recently closed its medical facilities in the camp, relocating to the neighbouring Nduta refugee camp. They have called for greater recognition of the refugee crisis in Tanzania, calling for an increased international effort. 

 OWOS is coordinating the effort, with support from the Tanzanian Red Cross Society and UNHCR. The dentists are Tanzanian, Spanish, and French. They will be providing care from 14th-17th September over a four-day camp.