Surgeons struggle for access to war wounded

Published on Mar 27, 2008 - 8:32:03 AM

By: International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)

Geneva (ICRC), March 27, 2008 - Growing insecurity in conflict zones makes it increasingly difficult for medical workers to gain access to the war wounded, a fact that is being stressed by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on the eve of its 19th yearly international seminar on war surgery.

"Twenty years ago, doctors would just go to a country at war and treat the wounded," said the ICRC's head surgeon, Marco Baldan, ahead of the meeting. "Today, in places like southern Afghanistan and central Iraq, this is all but impossible."

Some 35 surgeons and nurses from all over the world will attend the seminar, to be held in Geneva from 28 to 30 March, in order to discuss best practices in treating the war wounded with ICRC experts and other specialists.

Not only are surgeons struggling to reach the wounded but the wounded themselves often find it impossible to get to a hospital because of the cost, the distance or the prevailing insecurity. "When people are wounded far away from a hospital, and there are clashes in the streets, they often have to wait many hours for treatment," said Mohammed Yussuf Hassan, one of the few surgeons working in the Somali capital, Mogadishu. "As a result, their wounds usually become infected and are more complicated to treat."

In many countries where the ICRC works, medical care is limited or lacking even in peacetime. When armed conflict breaks out, wreaking destruction and triggering the flight of medical personnel, things become even worse. "Health-care services are often among the first casualties of war," said Dr Baldan. "In the midst of the fighting, ICRC surgical teams support what is left of local health facilities, using techniques and equipment adapted to the circumstances," he added.

The ICRC's annual war surgery seminars, which draw on the organization's 30 years of experience in treating over 100,000 war wounded, are among the world's leading platforms for sharing knowledge of the treatment and management of war wounds. They are attended by surgeons, anaesthetists, nurses and other military and civilian experts.

The ICRC's largest surgical operations are being carried out in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, Sudan, Afghanistan, Somalia, Iraq, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Chad.

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