Forced Displacement Detrimental to the Health of Children in Colombia

Colombia has the highest number of internally displaced refugees in the world after Syria. The decade-long ongoing armed conflict between the Colombian police and the armed forces, paramilitaries, and guerilla groups has caused 5.7 million people—more than ten percent of the population—to flee their homelands. Many of them are women and children, driven off their lands, in most cases, to the misery of precarious living conditions and poor hygiene in destitute urban districts. A study by DIW Berlin shows that this forced displacement is detrimental to the health of children in Colombia, with displaced infants and toddlers, for example, suffering from malnou¬rishment more frequently than non-displaced children of the same age group. Parents from displaced households also perceived their children’s state of health to be considerably worse. In addition, their probable lack of health insurance hampers access to health services and medicine.