MSF hands over activities
The 2002 ceasefire between LTTE rebels
(Tamil Tigers) in the north of the country
and the government held firm in 2003. As a
result of the truce, the humanitarian situation
in the north has improved. For the first
time in years, hospitals are adequately supplied
with medicines, and most people
who had fled their villages have been able
to return home. As a result of the improved
conditions, MSF spent much of 2003 preparing
for its departure and ended its work
in the country in March 2004.
During 2003, MSF continued to support
regional hospitals in the northern Wanni
region. In Mallavi, the organization assisted
the surgical and maternity departments,
completed the training of supplementary
staff and constructed a modern system
for processing medical waste. A similar
system was installed in the hospital in
Puthukkudiyiruppu. In December 2003, an
MSF doctor worked in the latter hospital to
help the nursing department and to prepare
the maternity department for the
organization's departure. From August
until November, MSF supplied a doctor to
the outpatient department of the hospital
in Mullaitivu. In September and October,
the organization provided training courses
for laboratory technicians at the hospitals
at Mullaitivu and Puthukkudiyiruppu.
In the town of Vavuniya, just outside of the
Wanni region, MSF continued a project
providing psychosocial care and health
information for traumatized people who
had been displaced from their homes in
the north.
In March 2004, MSF handed over its
activities to a new Sri Lankan NGO. This
organization is comprised of Sri Lankans
who had worked for MSF and who will
continue the psychosocial program in the
town and district of Vavuniya. The activities
in Mullaitivu district have been handed
over to medical staff working for the
national ministry of health.
MSF started working in Sri Lanka in 1986.
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