Posted on 27 December, 2012

Photo: The inpatient therapeutic feeding center in the Dera Murad Jamali District Headquarters Hospital in eastern Balochistan Pakistan 2011 © P.K. Lee/MSF

MSF Condemns Targeting of Health Workers in Pakistan

Regardless of the parties or individuals responsible for the recent escalation of attacks against health workers in Pakistan, both patients and medical workers risk losing their lives while seeking or providing health care.

As a medical humanitarian organization working in Pakistan since 1986, and currently operating activities throughout the country, MSF condemns the attacks on medical workers and strongly reiterates the need to fully respect the medical mission by ensuring the safety and security of patients, medical staff, and health facilities.

“A hospital or a vaccination site needs to be a safe location where medics can perform their duty, and patients can receive the urgent assistance they need,” said Arjan Hehenkamp, MSF general director. “We call on all actors to restore the respect for the medical act.”

Acceptance from all communities and political and military groups is the only way medical actors, including MSF, can work in Pakistan. This acceptance is based on the fact that medical activities have a singular objective: the provision of impartial medical care to anyone in need, and based on need alone.

Already fragile perception and acceptance of vaccination in Pakistan was further undermined last year by the alleged misuse of vaccinations by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, in its attempt to gather intelligence leading to the killing of Osama Bin Laden.

MSF does not carry out mass vaccination campaigns in the country, despite the significant need for them.

“The reality is that in our facilities, we are treating people suffering from preventable conditions,” said Hehenkamp. “Part of the solution is to conduct mass vaccinations, but we simply cannot consider it within this climate of rumors and suspicion, which is deadly for both patients and health workers.”

Since 1986, MSF has been working in Pakistan with Pakistani communities and Afghan refugees who are survivors of armed conflict and natural disasters, or who lack access to medical care. MSF teams provide free emergency medical care in Kurram Agency in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, and in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, and Sindh provinces.

Photo: Greece and the island of Lesvos 2012 © Google

Deadly Voyage Highlights Risks to Migrants and Refugees Arriving in Greece

The sinking of a boat believed to be carrying 28 people near the Greek island of Lesvos on December 14 highlights the dangers of a recent increase in maritime crossings to the Aegean Islands.

The death toll from the latest incident stands at 21, with six other people missing and only one confirmed survivor, an 18-year-old man. The majority of new arrivals over the last few months are Afghan and Syrian nationals, including many families with young children, pregnant women, and other vulnerable people. MSF teams providing medical assistance in the Aegean Islands report that migrants arrive in a state of extreme fatigue and are very frightened because of the difficult conditions they experienced on the voyage.

“The experience of the journey and of the arrival to a new unfamiliar environment seems to be an especially traumatic experience, particularly for children,“ said Marianthi Papagianni, a medical doctor and a member of the MSF team in Lesvos. “In addition to obvious health risks—primarily upper respiratory tract infections, hypothermia, lack of appropriate food—the impact on children’s mental health is something which should not be underestimated.”

Children may lose a parent on the trip, fall into the water or witness a drowning, Papagianni said. “Upon their arrival, they are scared, silent, ready to attach themselves to the first person that will give them a smile,” she said.

In cooperation with local health services and authorities, MSF has been responding to the urgent medical and humanitarian needs of migrants and refugees arriving in Greece’s Aegean Islands and in the Evros region since 2008. In August, when Greek authorities enhanced border control measures in Evros, MSF teams noticed a dramatic decline in the arrivals of migrants and refugees there, and a considerable increase in arrivals in the Aegean Islands.

The MSF team in Lesvos consists of one doctor, two interpreters and one administrator. MSF is also providing medical supplies and basic relief items to people arriving on other islands through a network of local actors.