SURVEILLANCE OF THE HEALTH AND NUTRITIONAL-STATUS OF ROHINGYA REFUGEES IN BANGLADESH

Early in 1992, Bangladesh experienced an influx of Burmese refugees, r eaching a total of 263,000 by May. As the health and nutritional statu s of the refugee population was reportedly poor, a need was felt to co llect dependable data through epidemiological surveillance, on which i nterventions could be based. The nutritional and health status of chil dren was dramatically poor in all camps surveyed and a deterioration w as expected in the coming monsoon. Several problem areas could be iden tified. Based on these findings it was possible to undertake appropria te action and to avert threatening calamities. Epidemiological surveil lance is an important monitoring tool to provide reliable data on the health and nutritional status of refugee populations and to help the o rganizations involved to prioritize and evaluate their actions.