Médecins Sans Frontières increases its medical and humanitarian support in southern Kyrgyzstan

A Médecins Sans Frontières field worker treats a child during an assessment in Osh on Sunday 20 June. A medical doctor, nurse and a psychologist are visiting several neighbourhoods of Osh in order to expand activities in this area. © François Dumont/MSF

25 wounded, two dead, at a hospital in Osh on Monday 21 June

The situation is still very tense in Osh and Jalal-Abad, southern Kyrgyzstan, where violent clashes killed hundreds since 10 June. Médecins Sans Frontières teams are on the ground providing medical care to the victims and displaced and giving support to the local health structures.

Violence in Nariman

On Monday 21 June, a team of the international medical organisation Médecins Sans Frontières was informed of a new violent episode in Nariman, in the outskirts of Osh, southern Kyrgyzstan. The team then visited the hospital in Nariman where 25 wounded were receiving care and two were reported to have died.

“The patients were all men suffering from wounds such as head injuries, ribs fractures, and bruises,” says Andrei Slavuckij, Médecins Sans Frontières coordinator in Southern Kyrgyzstan. “These wounds were clearly related to violent beatings. This is just a new example that violence and tensions are far from over here.”

The hospital personnel could cope with the number of patients but was lacking basic drugs and medical material, which Médecins Sans Frontières then donated.

Médecins Sans Frontières witnessed the presence of four unidentified armed persons in the premises of the hospital, a situation which may prevent other wounded people to seek medical care.

“If other people are wounded, they may be hiding somewhere and be too scared to come and get medical care at the hospital,” adds Slavuckij. “In addition, some ambulances cannot refer severe patients to more specialised medical structures because their drivers have received death threats in some places at checkpoints for doing so. It is essential that patients who need care have total, unhindered access to medical structures.”

Activities started in Onadir

On Tuesday 22nd June, a Médecins Sans Frontières team found a very difficult situation at a health facility in Onadir, a 55,000 inhabitants Uzbek community located south of Osh. “The medical personnel are totally exhausted,” says Sonia Peyrassol, psychologist and project coordinator. “They have been treating patients night and day since the first day of the crisis. Both the patients and the medical staff are in deep shock. When we asked them ‘how are you?’, they started crying and telling us terrible stories.”

On the same day, Médecins Sans Frontières provided post-operative care to 50 patients who had been wounded in the earlier days of the crisis. Our team is now supporting the clinic by setting up surgical capacity and reinforcing maternal and paediatric care as well as treatment for chronic diseases. A surgeon, a medical doctor and a nurse will be permanently based in Onadir and work alongside the clinic’s staff. Psychological care will be at the core of Médecins Sans Frontières’ work.

More than ten days after inter-community clashes erupted in southern Kyrgyzstan, the situation is still very tense in and around the cities of Osh and Jalal-Abad. Although Médecins Sans Frontières has observed that some of the people who fled violence (some by crossing the border to Uzbekistan) have now started to return to their places of origin. A lot of houses are burned in Osh and its surroundings, and many people are still very scared, hiding or barricaded in their neighbourhoods. Many rumours only aggravate this situation of fear.

Six Médecins Sans Frontières teams on the ground

Médecins Sans Frontières is now working in Osh and Jalal-Abad, as well as in four sites located close to the border with Uzbekistan, providing medical support to health structures and care to the many people who have been affected and displaced by violence.

Médecins Sans Frontières has organised six teams comprising doctors, surgeons, nurses, psychologists and logisticians. Four of the teams are focused on giving assistance to families displaced by the violence and who are living in dire conditions. Besides medical care and psychological support, they have been distributing 1000 hygiene kits and other emergency relief goods for 5000 people.

Two other teams are based in health structures in the cities of Osh and Jalal-Abad, assisting the local health personnel and providing them with medical supplies – for instance, 2000 treatments for chronic diseases have been donated to the Onadir polyclinic. On Wednesday, June 23, Médecins Sans Frontières staff have given around 300 medical consultations a day, including care to many wounded people.

25 Médecins Sans Frontières international staff are now running the organisation’s activities in southern Kyrgyzstan.

On the other side of the border in Uzbekistan, Médecins Sans Frontières has been training and supporting local psychologists in order to offer mental health support to refugees, concentrating on group counselling sessions and training to counsellors.  An assessment of water and sanitation needs is planned. Médecins Sans Frontières has been supporting the refugees with relief items, which had been donated into a central stock. Since June 23, the situation is changing and the team has seen many refugees leaving. As a consequence, the mental health activities have been ordered to stop by the authorities. The team on the ground is continuing to monitor the situation and preparing to support other Médecins Sans Frontières teams on the Kirghiz side of the border.

Médecins Sans Frontières has worked in Kyrgyzstan since 2006 and in Uzbekistan since 1997 providing medical treatment to tuberculosis patients, including those suffering from the most resistant form of this disease.

Related News:

 Kyrgyzstan: “Huge mistrust between communities leaves many without essential medical care” - 02-07-10 10:26