Lives at risk in the northern Mali city as its only functioning hospital runs short of supplies
DAKAR (AlertNet) – The only functioning hospital in the rebel-held northern Malian town of Timbuktu is running out of medical supplies and urgently needs restocking so doctors can save lives, the head of a medical charity operating there has warned.
The shortage of medicines is particularly critical for people suffering from chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension who need to take medication regularly, said Thierry Allafort-Duverger, director general of the Alliance for International Medical Action (ALIMA).
“Our teams have seen diabetic patients who have come to the hospital in a state of coma due to the lack of insulin,” Allafort-Duverger, said on the phone from Bamako, the capital of Mali.
The shortage of drugs is compounding an already dire medical situation in Timbuktu which only has a handful of doctors, nurses and pharmacists left after other medical staff fled the town when it was captured on April 1, he added.
Timbuktu, the fabled desert trading town and seat of Islamic learning, is part of the nearly 80 percent of Malian territory under the control of a mix of Tuareg-led rebels, who have declared an independent state in the north, and armed Islamic groups, who say they want to apply sharia law across Mali.
There has been an uncertain calm in the town since its capture, but residents continue to flee, unsure about who is in control and if fighting will start again, Allafort-Duverger said.
Unexploded ordnance left over from the unrest poses an additional danger.
“We had three children that were brought to hospital injured because they were playing with an unexploded ordnance, unfortunately two died (on Wednesday),” Allafort-Duverger said.
SOLAR PANELS LOOTED
ALIMA has been providing medical assistance through a team of local doctors and nurses to the town and thousands in the wider region who have been uprooted by the conflict in the north of Mali.
The most frequent conditions seen by ALIMA medical teams have been diarrhoea, respiratory infections and skin complaints related to the lack of access to water and sanitation, but there has been a noticeable spike in the number of people treated for acute malnutrition, Allafort-Duverger said.
“There is a need for a substantial deployment of medical and food aid to the Timbuktu region and all of northern Mali,” Allafort-Duverger added. “Even access to water needs to be resolved after people looted solar panels that were used to power wells.”
Insecurity in the north has hampered the delivery of aid to those in most need.
The European Commission warned on Thursday of the risk of a humanitarian disaster that could affect neighbouring countries unless there is rapid progress in the next few days to enable food and medical supplies to reach the north.
The conflict has forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes, including 140,000 who have sought refuge in neighbouring countries and about 100,000 who are internally displaced within the country, according to the United Nations.
ALIMA’s Allafort-Duverger believes clear negotiations with the parties involved in the conflict highlighting the impartial and independent nature of humanitarian aid work would ensure access.
“We were able to send some medical supplies from (the capital) Bamako to Timbuktu which means the humanitarian access is not completely blocked. What is needed is proper negotiations with the groups there (in north Mali),” he said.
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