NEWS UPDATE

Fighting in Cambodia

Fighting in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh between troops of the two rival Prime Ministers Hun Sen and Prince Ranariddh, has resulted in an unknown number of injuries and deaths ans has caused serious damage in the city. The Kozamak hospital in Phnom Penh has been shelled and the surgery ward has been destroyed. MSF team members are carrying the wounded to other hospitals in Phnom Penh and have started to supply medical materials. On July 7, team members who were visiting Siem Reap in the northwest of the country were attempting to take a convoy of supplies to Phnom Penh.

Nutrition in North Korea

MSF will start a medical and nutritional program in three provinces of North Korea, where a severe food shortage has led to mass malnutrition. The project will include distributing drugs, teaching local health workers, and assisting in setting up feeding centers.

Afghan Refugees Flee

An offensive against the town of Mari-Chaq in northwestern Afghanistan at the end of June caused scores of casualties and forced nearly 10,000 Afghan refugees to flee across the border of Afghanistan to Turkmenistan. In the immediate aftermath of the displacement, seven children died of diarrhea, and MSF confirmed one case of measles. The organization has since vaccinated nearly 1,800 children between 6 months and 12 years of age to prevent the spread of this disease, which is a major cause of childhood mortality throughout the world. MSF has also installed a 15,000-liter bladder tank with 12 taps to provide refugees with clean drinking water. On July 3, some refugees began to return home, but most remain in a no-man's land between the border and an electric fence left over from the cold war.

Teams Return to Congo-Brazzaville

Following last week's evacuation from Brazzaville, Congo Republic, a member of the MSF team has returned and is attempting to visit the Linzolo hospital southwest of the city. In the meantime, MSF has sent medical supplies to the hospital, where local staff are still working with 200 patients, a third of whom were wounded in the fighting.

© 1997 Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)