Somalia: MSF assist wounded after heavy fighting
The international medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières MSF (Doctors Without Borders) is assisting wounded patients in the town of Galcayo in the Mudug region of Somalia. Heavy fighting broke out in the town on Thursday 1 September, leading to many casualties including among civilians. The hospital in Galcayo North, partly supported by MSF, has treated 60 wounded, most of them civilians, while 20 wounded have been treated so far at an MSF-run hospital in the southern part of the city. Until now, the fighting is reported to have claimed 18 lives.
“MSF is extremely concerned about the high number of civilian casualties that this round of fighting has caused,” said Rolland Kaya, MSF’s project coordinator. “We will continue to monitor the situation up close and provide more medical assistance if necessary.”
MSF has provided the hospital in Galcayo North with additional surgical materials and other medical stocks needed to cater for the influx of wounded people. MSF is working in the hospital’s outpatient department, focused on providing medical care to children under 12. In July, MSF opened a new inpatient paediatric department, while the organisation also provides therapeutic feeding for malnourished children. In Galcayo South, MSF provides an extensive package of healthcare, including surgery services.
Galcayo is experiencing serious medical needs, not only among the local population but also among the thousands of displaced people who have fled violence and drought in other parts of the country during the ongoing nutritional emergency. MSF is the main provider of free healthcare services for hundreds of kilometres around Galcayo.
MSF has worked continuously in Somalia since 1991 and currently provides free medical care in eight regions. Over 1,400 Somali staff, supported by approximately 100 staff in Nairobi, provide free primary healthcare, surgery, treatment for malnutrition, as well as support to displaced people through providing healthcare, supplying water and distributing relief items in nine locations in south and central Somalia. MSF is also providing medical care to Somali refugees in Kenya (Dagahaley and Ifo camps, Dadaab) and Ethiopia (camps in the Liben region).
