MSF-USA: Kyrgyzstan: MSF Provides Emergency Medical Supplies For Victims of Violence in Bishkek

April 8, 2010
Kyrgyzstan: MSF Provides Emergency Medical Supplies For Victims of Violence in Bishkek

Hundreds of wounded arrived in Bishkek hospitals following violent confrontations between armed forces and protesters in the streets of Kyrgyzstan’s capital on April 7. The Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) team in Kyrgyzstan immediately responded by providing the National Hospital and the main ambulance station with emergency medical supplies and drugs, including bandages and other sterile material, intravenous injection sets, antibiotics and painkillers. More material and drugs are to be donated today by MSF to three health structures in the capital city.

In coordination with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), MSF staff in Bishkek are visiting hospitals and meeting health authorities to further assess needs in terms of medical material and human resources. “In the National Hospital, injured people are still arriving today. We have to ensure the hundreds of victims have access to proper medical care. Most of them have been beaten or shot, and some suffered heavy traumas to their heads or chests,” said Alexandre Baillat, MSF’s Head of Mission in Kyrgyzstan.

Additional shipments of more surgical material and special medical kits that contain enough supplies to take care of 300 wounded people, are currently being sent from MSF’s supply center in Bordeaux, France, to Kyrgyzstan.

Médecins Sans Frontières has been running a tuberculosis program in Kyrgyzstan's penitentiary system since 2006.