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LIBERIA :: MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES reopens abandoned hospital in eastern Liberia 19th January 2004. Médecins Sans Frontières is today reopening the doors of Zwedru Public Hospital in Grand Gedeh County, eastern Liberia. The hospital has been closed since nearly a year ago, when clashes between government and rebel troops drove many civilians from their homes and prevented medical agencies from continuing their work. People in the region have had absolutely no access to hospital health care since last March.
Médecins Sans Frontières also hopes to provide support to four clinics in the area in order to ensure better primary health care for the population of Grand Gedeh county, estimated to number about 120,000 people. Persistent health problems include malaria, respiratory tract infections, measles, anaemia, ulcers and complications during childbirth. The Médecins Sans Frontières team will comprise of Liberian health staff and technicians employed from the region , as well as five international staff members, including a mid-wife. “One of our first priorities will be to give theoretical and on-the-job training to health staff in diagnosing and treating diseases, hygiene protocols and caring for patients before and after operations,” explains Alain Kassa, Médecins Sans Frontières’ Head of Mission in Liberia. “We will also focus on collecting and analysing epidemiological data: in an area susceptible to measles and cholera outbreaks, it is important that epidemics are detected and kept under control quickly.” The situation in Grand Gedeh is currently calm, but the county is bordered by Ivory Coast to the east and Nimba county to the north west. Nimba county continues to be troubled by violent clashes and Ivory Coast has been unstable since September 2002. “By working in this region, we hope to be alert to any abuses of the civilian population by warring parties so that we can ensure that victims of violence are detected and given timely treatment,” continues Kassa. “Sexual violence has been a distressingly common characteristic of the conflicts that have devastated west Africa over the last 15 years and we particularly hope to encourage victims of rape or sexual abuse to come forward for medical care.”
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