MSF is adapting its activities to reach people in need of medical help who are unable to leave their homes due to the insecurity. Local MSF doctors, nurses and physiotherapists have taken medical supplies to their own neighbourhoods and are providing care and distributing medical material to meet the immediate needs of patients living in their vicinity.
Thirty-three people suspected of suffering from Ebola, including nine people who have died, have been reported since November 27. An MSF team of nine Ebola specialists is currently working in the region. Logisticians are building an isolation ward and putting in place all protection measures.
"Every day thousands of Zimbabweans cross the Limpopo River to reach South Africa, risking their lives in order to flee the situation in Zimbabwe," said Rachel Cohen, MSF Head of Mission in South Africa. "Along with local authorities, we will need to be particularly vigilant in the coming days and weeks – during the Christmas holidays there is typically a marked increase in people crossing over the border, and the approaching rainy season can increase the risk of cholera."
MSF calls on combatants to respect medical facilities in Guri El (Somalia)
This morning, fighting broke out around the town of Guri El, in the Galagaduud region of Somalia. "With so few medical facilities available in Somalia, it is crucial that any person, regardless of their political or other affiliation, is able to freely access medical structures that are still functioning. MSF demands that the hospital's neutrality and, the neutrality of all its patients, is respected by all combatants," explained Tom Quinn, who coordinates MSF programmes in Somalia. Find out more...
