Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) finally managed to deliver medicines and medical supplies yesterday to Sirte, Libya, at the heart of the current fighting. For the last 10 days, MSF has attempted to deliver aid to Sirte where, according to doctors in the town, the healthcare situation has continued to deteriorate.

“They say that their hospital is overrun with wounded and they aren’t always able to respond to other gynecological or pediatric emergencies, or treat people suffering from chronic conditions,” says Mégo Terzian, a doctor and emergency response co-ordinator for MSF. “Moreover, they have to deal with cuts in power and water and a lack of urgent medical supplies. They need anesthetics, antibiotics, analgesics and blood for transfusions,” says Terzian.

Initially, due to the fighting, the MSF team based in Misrata could only deliver medicines to a small town 10 kilometres away from Sirte. Since Oct. 3, MSF has managed to send medicines and medical supplies to Sirte itself, notably an oxygen concentrator and wound dressing materials.

Libya © Benoit Finck/MSF
MSF and hospital staff at the Kasr Ahmed hospital in Misrata tend to a patient who has arrived from the front lines of the fighting, near Sirte.

Emergency treatment was taking place at medical health posts close to the front lines of Sirte and Beni Walid. So a medical health centre was set up in an old holiday home, 50 kilometres from Sirte in a more secure location. MSF has provided the centre with logistical support, medicines and medical supplies and organized first aid training. Once they are stabilized, the injured are taken by ambulance or helicopter to Misrata or Tripoli where the closest hospitals with surgical capacity are located.

In the Kasr Ahmed hospital in Misrata, an MSF surgical team looks after the urgent and wounded cases. It also looks after prisoners of war who are being detained in local prisons and are moved to this hospital for surgery.

Another consequence of the fighting which is taking place on both sides of Misrata is that civilians are fleeing the strongholds of the old regime, like Sirte and Beni Walid. Some are heading to Tripoli and others are seeking refuge around Misrata or joining camps for internally displaced people in Kaddayia, Al Hicha and Wachka. MSF is monitoring the situation in these camps to ensure medical access for these displaced people. Notably, the town of Al Hicha has opened a camp for 2,000 people where MSF is supporting Libyan doctors by providing medicines.

Libya © Benoit Finck/MSF
A medical coordinator (left) and other MSF staff organize medical and logistical supplies to be delivered to health posts run by Libyan doctors close to the front lines.

MSF has staff working in hospitals in Yefren and Zintan in the west of Libya, where they are providing medical supplies and drugs. MSF is also providing mental health support to people affected by the fighting.

In Misrata, MSF is providing medical care, including post-operative care, in many prisons in the town and offering mental health support to detainees, mostly soldiers who have been taken prisoner.  Also in Misrata, MSF psychologists play a supervisory role and give training to Libyan psychologists.  They are also holding consultations within the community.

Medical consultations, mental health care and the distribution of essential goods make up the various kinds of aid being offered to migrants sheltering in sites in and around Tripoli.

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