Khartoum, Sudan/New York, AUgust 3, 2006 – Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) demands that the provision of medical care be allowed and respected in the conflict areas of Darfur, Sudan. Many MSF activities are currently suspended in Darfur, leaving thousands of patients untreated everyday.
Khartoum, Sudan/New York – Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) demands that the provision of medical care be allowed and respected in the conflict areas of Darfur, Sudan. Many MSF activities are currently suspended in Darfur, leaving thousands of patients untreated everyday.
MSF has been attacked in the past weeks in several locations in all regions of Darfur. Among the latest incidents: on July 14, armed men robbed the MSF compound and stole a car in Serif Umra; on July 16, an MSF ambulance was shot at on the road between el Geneina and Morney and the driver beaten; on July 18, another MSF vehicle was stolen from a medical facility in Shangil Tobaya; on July 20, a team was whipped and robbed on the road between Golo and Niertiti.
Security incidents have led to the evacuation of MSF teams in Serif Umra and from two projects in the Jebel Marra area, and have caused the interruption of mobile clinics and limitations in the referral of emergency cases to surgical facilities in other areas. This reduction of activity has immediate and serious consequences for the population.
In Darfur, MSF provides medical consultations, hospitalizations (including surgery), emergency referrals, and nutritional programs. MSF services are intended for the whole population of Darfur, which has been victimized throughout the ongoing conflict.
MSF is an independent international medical humanitarian organization and has been working in Darfur since 2003. MSF currently has over 2,000 staff working in 17 locations throughout Darfur.
