      |
MSF projects in Darfur, October 2007 West Darfur | North Darfur | South Darfur
Access to medical care and emergency support is a constant problem for populations faced with on-going violence in West Darfur. MSF has a base in El Geneina which provides medical and technical support to projects in West Darfur. Fighting to the north of the city led to the displacement of several thousand people in December 2006, 5,000 of whom arrived in the nearby Aradamata and Dorti camps. In Aradamata camp, on the outskirts of town, MSF has set up a medical mobile unit to screen new arrivals, and more than 500 people were treated in less than a week. In Habilah, a camp near the border with Chad, which has 7,000 residents and houses over 22,000 displaced people, MSF runs a health centre, with 25 beds for inpatients. The centre provides medical consultations, specialized care for women and treatment for tuberculosis and malnutrition. Between January and September 2006, 350 babies were delivered in the clinic and 24,000 consultations were done. In May 2007 MSF began providing mental health care services. MSF started working in Foro Boranga, on the border with Chad, in August 2007 as numbers of people fleeing violence in Chad reached up to 16,000. These refugees live in precarious conditions, there is limited access to care, very little clean drinking water and the nutritional situation is fragile. Two MSF teams have started mobile clinics providing nutritional assistance, general consultations and vaccinations. People who are seriously ill are referred to hospital in Seleia or Foro Boranga. Logistical staff accompany the medical teams in order to distribute mosquito nets and provide clean drinking water. Seleia, in the north of the West Darfur province, has been home to ongoing fighting. MSF supports an hospital in the town, providing reproductive health care and medical and psychiatric treatment for victims of sexual violence. Surgical care is also provided. In the mountainous rebel-controlled Jebel Mara, violence against NGOs, a general lack of security and also administrative blockages hamper the provision of much needed medical assistance. In many of the places that MSF is working there are no other medical facilities, meaning that MSF staff care for thousands of people. MSF provides services (outpatient visits and hospitalizations and malnutrition programme) in Niertiti, at the foot of the Jebel Mara, where the population totals 3,000 residents and 30,000 displaced people. There is an average of 4,500 consultations and 200 hospitalizations per month. As movements are still difficult, MSF travels to Thur, near Niertiti, twice a week. The team sees around 200 patients a day. MSF also works in Kutrum, a rebel held area. MSF staff do around 1,430 consultations very month and refer emergency cases to Zalingei hospital. It is difficult for MSF’s staff to move around in this isolated area as it is very insecure and authorisations are required before any movement can take place. As a result MSF is not able to meet all the needs identified and is sometimes forced to evacuate temporarily. In Zalingei, where 90,000 displaced people are living, the hospital is now running smoothly. Doctors from the Ministry of Health are present throughout the facility, and MSF has gradually reduced its activities to focus on working in three of the hospital departments: emergency care, paediatrics and surgical care. While others actors are taking over some of the medical assistance, displaced families continue to arrive in Zalingei. There is still a huge need for food aid, good sanitation and essential items such as soap or plastic sheeting. From 2003-4, MSF was the only organisation working in Mornay, a camp which houses around 68,000 displaced people. In early 2007, MSF handed over its project to the government and other organisations who are taking responsibility for meeting the health care needs and distributing food and drinking water.
In the town of Kebkabiya, just over 150 kilometres to
the west of the provincial capital El Fasher, MSF runs three dispensaries
and supports the Ministry of Health hospital. MSF’s work assists around
75,000 people, many of whom were displaced at the beginning of the conflict
in 2003 and sought refuge in the city. Malnutrition is on the rise in the
area, as people can still not cultivate or grow crops because of insecurity,
and continue to rely heavily on relief aid for their survival. Next to health
problems, violence remains an issue, notably sexual violence targeting women
and teenage girls. Serious security incidents forced MSF to evacuate its international team from Serif Umra in July 2006. Sudanese staff ran the dispensary – the sole medical facility for a population of 55,000, many of whom have been displaced – for over a year. An international team was able to return to Serif Umra in July 2007. Around 7,000 outpatients consultations are performed every month in the dispensary, while patients in need of secondary health care are transferred to the hospital in Zalingei or El Geneina. In Shangil Tobaya, MSF provides care for the 28,000 displaced people living in the Shangil and Shadat camps, as well as in Shangil Tobaya village. MSF runs inpatient and outpatient departments, a therapeutic feeding programme and provides reproductive health services and treatment for victims of sexual violence. In August 2007, MSF started working in Tawila, where close to 35,000 displaced people have gathered in three camps. These people have had no access to any health services since April 2007, when the last relief organisation working in the area had to leave because of security problems. MSF started running mobile clinics in the three camps, including a nutritional programme and mother and child health care, and has set up a small inpatient department in Tawila town. However, the security situation in the area remains very unstable. The MSF team has suffered several incidents and had to be provisionally evacuated in mid-September. They will return as soon as the security situation allows. In summer 2007, MSF closed its clinics in Killin and Gorni, in the Jebel Mara. This part of Jebel Mara has been stable for many months and there were a number of other health facilities in the area. Therefore MSF decided to reallocate its resources to other parts of North Darfur where the needs are greater.
With a population of over 90,000 people, Kalma is one of the largest camps for displaced people in Darfur. MSF works in the camp and runs an outpatient department with consultations for 2,800 patients every month. MSF is also focusing on mother and child care and running a women's health centre with up to 200 consultations per day. The centre provides ante- and post-natal care, as well as delivery assistance for high-risk pregnancies and referrals for obstetric emergencies. Family planning is also available. MSF is one of three agencies providing full treatment for survivors of sexual gender-based violence. A mental health programme addresses the profound psychosocial stress and trauma experienced by the population as a result of the current, precarious living conditions, as well as the psychological trauma related to past conflict. Psychosocial care is given through several hundred private counseling sessions per month, workshops and support groups. The project is complemented by community outreach activities. The MSF team is also responding to the emergency needs of new arrivals and people whose shelters have been destroyed by fires by providing plastic sheeting, blankets and jerry cans. Located in a rebel held area, Muhajariya is a large town in South Darfur, where MSF provides medical care to around 70,000 people. MSF offers surgical care and runs inpatient and outpatient departments and a laboratory, as well as providing reproductive health services with antenatal, postnatal and family planning assistance. Treatment for survivors of sexual violence is available. Because the nutritional situation is still fragile, therapeutic and supplementary feeding remain integrated into the basic health care programmes. MSF teams also provide water to displaced people in settlements around Muhajariya where community outreach programmes are also carried out. In October 2007 MSF has to evacuate its international team from Muhajariya following an intensive attack on the town. The teams will return as soon as security allows. The MSF team in Feina runs an antenatal care and home-based feeding programme and sees around 130 outpatients per day. The feeding programme has an average of 60 new admissions each month. MSF has run a few mobile clinics in the area (Dulda, Logi and Leiba) to bring services closer to these populations who remain scattered in an area of 10,000 square kilometres and to obtain a more comprehensive overview of their health needs. In Kass camp, between Zalingei and Nyala, 75,000 displaced people are crowded into the town, living in schools, fields and public buildings. An additional 25,000 people have arrived since January and their arrival has strained the already very difficult living conditions. The few medical organisations working in the area are overwhelmed. MSF plans to start working in Kass camp to address the needs of the weakened population and the new emergency. » Read about other articles on Darfur
|
|
|
|||
|
|||||
