Iraq: MSF emergency aid after bomb attack in Mosul

Iraq | 07 August 2009

More than 100 wounded patients have been assisted in the aftermath of a large bomb blast that took place on the outskirts of the city of Mosul, northern Iraq today. Still more wounded are expected to arrive in the coming hours to the Jumury hospital in the centre of Mosul. The hospital, assisted by local volunteers from Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) since 2007, immediately asked the international medical organization for supplies of material to cover their increased needs in the emergency situation.

“The hospital has exhausted much of its available medical and surgical supplies due to the enormous number of critically wounded patients,” says Gustavo Fernandez, MSF’s head of mission for the Iraq program based in Amman, Jordan. “MSF regrets the deaths and suffering of civilians who have been caught in this indiscriminate and terrible violence.”

The material that will soon arrive in the hospital – surgical material, catheters, tubes, drains, iodine bottles, bandages and compresses – will cover the needs of approximately 100 wounded patients. In addition MSF is supplying burn kits to treat 100 burn victims.

MSF has been supporting Jumury hospital since 2007. Besides the supply of medical material, local volunteers in the hospital’s emergency unit have undertaken trainings on the reception of mass casualties over recent months.

Despite the ongoing conflict in Iraq, which has made it difficult for humanitarian organizations to work in the country, MSF is striving to provide medical care to the Iraqi people. Since 2006, MSF has implemented programs in different parts of Iraq, such as Anbar, Basra and in the northern governorates of Tameem and Ninewa, mostly supporting hospitals by the supply of medical materials and training. In Suleimanyah in the north, MSF is providing services at a hospital specializing in burns. MSF has also established a program for reconstructive surgery in Jordan.