Medical charity group in Tanzania has said that the health crisis in the country’s refugee camps is being threatened following influx of refugees in the country.

According to ceoafrica, some 290,000 refugees, over three-quarters of them from Burundi, are crammed into three overstretched camps - Nyarugusu, Mtendeli and Nduta.

Nduta camp which was set up to relieve pressures at Nyarugusu, in the western province of Kigoma, is home to 117,000 people, more than double its intended capacity.

Although, it is expected to host 150,000 refugees by April if the daily arrivals of 600-1,000 people continue but the medical charity which offers medical services at the camp, says it has recorded a fourfold increase in the number of outpatient consultations.

It says overcrowded and unsanitary living conditions are contributing to cases of malaria, diarrhoea, respiratory tract infections, and skin problems, which require urgency for new camp according to the head of the medical charity, David Nash.

“With the three camps at full capacity and the flow of refugees not slowing, it is more and more urgent that a site for a fourth camp is identified and immediately established; the group has repeatedly called for this, but we are still not seeing concrete action being taken”.

Mr Nash also says the decision by Tanzania's government to withdraw automatic refugee status to Burundians arriving in the country may affect the humanitarian assistance that can be made available to them.