MSF closes its largest medical centres in Mogadishu after killings

Media release from Médecins Sans Frontières :

" Other projects in Somalia continue, but MSF medical assistance in Somali capital reduced by half

19 January 2012 – Following the tragic killings of our colleagues Philippe Havet and Dr Karel Keiluhu in Mogadishu, Somalia, on 29 December 2011, the medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) sees itself forced to end all activities in the Hodan district of the capital, including the closure of two separate 120-bed medical facilities for the treatment of malnutrition, measles and cholera.

The closure of activities in this district halves the assistance MSF is providing in Mogadishu. For now, MSF projects will continue to provide medical care in the other districts of the capital, as well as in 10 locations in the rest of Somalia.

However, the continuation of MSF work to assist Somalis in need of medical care is dependent upon the respect for personnel, patients and medical facilities. Where these conditions prevail, MSF remains committed to continue its activities in Somalia.

“It is hard to close health services in a location where the presence of our medical teams is genuinely lifesaving everyday,” states Christopher Stokes, MSF general director, “but the brutal assassination of our colleagues in Hodan makes it impossible for us to continue working in this district of Mogadishu.”

In Hodan, MSF has been assisting 200,000 Somalis who have fled to the capital in recent months. Since August 2011, treatment has been provided to 11,787 malnourished children, 1,232 patients have been treated for acute watery diarrhea and 861 patients have been treated for measles. MSF teams have also vaccinated 67,228 children against measles."