Typhoid strikes Manus

Typhoid strikes Manus

BY ALANA LEVENE

A suspected outbreak of typhoid fever has struck refugees and asylum seekers on Manus Island, prompting renewed calls to bring those detained there to Australia.

Two men have been flown from the island to Port Moresby Hospital, and their rooms were sterilised, sources told the AAP. The cases highlighted the squalid health and living conditions in Australia’s offshore detention centres.

“A lot of this is shrouded in secrecy,” said Independent Wentworth MP Kerryn Phelps. Phelps recently helped guide the “Medevac” bill through Parliament, which made it easier to transfer sick asylum seekers to Australia for treatment.

Lack of transparency

Phelps, an established medical practitioner and public health advocate, said she’s concerned about public health officials’ lack of transparency regarding the conditions of offshore immigration detention facilities.

“What is the hygiene like on Manus Island for people seeking asylum and for refugees? What is the treatment process for people who come down with a potentially life-threatening illness like typhoid?”

Nick Martin, who has worked as a senior medical offer on Nauru, said he’s not surprised by the suspected outbreak. He noted frequent mice sightings in food preparation areas at these detention facilities.

“I think it’s well documented that the medical care, including physical and psychiatric care of the men on Manus, is terrible,” he said. “It’s almost inevitable that the camps’ living conditions, sanitary conditions, and lack of adequate medical treatment sparked outbreaks.”

“This is another reason why they should close these camps,” he said.

Typhoid is generally caused by contaminated water, according to Martin. Symptoms include explosive diarrhea. Its treatment requires fairly intensive rehydration, and Martin doubts that’s available to affected patients.

The sick refugees are some of the hundreds of men who’ve been held on Manus Island since 2013.

“The Australian Government has provided considerable funding in support of PNG’s and Nauru’s provision of offshore health services,” a spokesperson for the Department of Home Affairs said.

Further inquiries were referred to the Government of Papua New Guinea.

Last weekend, at Melbourne’s Palm Sunday Rally, novelist Richard Flanagan called for an end to the offshore detention of refugees, and suggested a Royal Commission should look into its history.

Activist Anthea Falkenberg, of Adelaide Vigil for Manus and Nauru, said she has visited Manus Island eight times and noted the conditions of “prolonged squalor and neglect”.

“Once again, it is clear that neither the Department of Home Affairs nor their contractors have succeeded in delivering the most basic of services,” Falkenberg said. “At times food made available to refugees has in the past even contained teeth. Very rarely does it contain fruit and vegetables.”

Due to the news blackout on Manus Island, refugees have taken to Facebook to share evidence of their conditions.

Shamindan Kanapadhi, a 27-year-old Sri Lankan Tamil refugee, attributed the typhoid cases to poor sanitation and contaminated water and food. He said the food ration for men in the Hillside camp had been reduced in recent weeks.

“Not only is the food not nurturing, sometimes obviously dangerous, and the amount not enough, but the men in Hillside camp have not been given adequate sanitation and the toilets are not being cleaned properly,” Kanapadhi said.

Kanapadhi called the situation a “nightmare”.

He said the Pacific International Hospital was closed during Easter. One refugee, who believed he had typhoid, was sent back to the Hillside camp with medication and “told he will be fine”. The man then spent the weekend worrying that he would spread his illness.

“It is well over time for the camp to be closed,” said Kanapadhi, who just spent his sixth Easter on Manus Island.

Martin said that the local hospital is not well-equipped to look after the Manusians, let alone the refugees.

Health professionals weigh in

Martin worked on Nauru from November 2016 to August 2017, during which time he corresponded with several medical professionals on Manus Island.

“Manus’ local hospital is in an even worse state than the Republic of Nauru Hospital,” he said.

While every refugee should be offered a typhoid vaccine and a booster, no vaccine is 100 per cent effective,” Martin said.

Phelps wants to know what the preventive health program is for people seeking asylum under Australia’s care — including whether they’re being immunized against typhoid.

“It goes to prevention of other illnesses, too,” she said. “Have people, for example, had their vaccinations against tetanus, hepatitis, and other preventable infectious diseases?”

“I think Australia’s public health officials should know what’s actually going on, how many cases there are, what measures have been taken to protect other people on Manus Island, and what care is in place for people,” Phelps said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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