A tale of two clinics--primary health care in refugee settings: Lessons from Sudan and Somalia

The elements and techniques of PHC were not developed in and for refugee situations, and the acute needs and transient situation of refugees sometimes attracts a more traditional medical approach. However, as refugees remain in a host country and their situation stabilizes there, attempts are made to convert to PHC. Refugee health programmes face some unique challenges when attempting this transformation, problems that exist even when PHC techniques were present at the onset of the programme. The challenge is to adapt PHC principles for use in acute and chronic refugee situations, and to find ways to develop a community base for health care programmes while at the same time meeting the acute medical needs unique to refugees.primary health care refugee health Sudan Somalia