Tag: Tigray siege by Ethiopia

Tigray head doctors describe worsening medical care catastrophe in emergency briefing

In an international zoom briefing Doctors Amanuel Haile and Kibrom Gebreselassie gave a detailed briefing on the deteriorating medical crisis in Tigray caused by the Ethiopian siege which impedes all aspects of health care. Ethiopian diaspora along with others are working to establish means of sending financial support as well as organize and carry out shipments to Tigray and to refugee centers in Sudan. Donations are encouraged to this link https://givebutter.com/xWtpbD

In an emergency international zoom conference today Drs.  Amanuel Haile, Tigray Health Bureau Director,and Kibrom Gebreselassie, CEO of Mekelle’s Ayder Hospital, the continuing catastrophic health care crisis in the Tigray region suffered under the Ethiopian siege was reported.

Less then fifty percent of health care facilities have any staffing at all. Even those that are open have no electricity or supplies. There are no antibiotics to treat infection, no surgical supplies, and even simple things such as bed sheets and soap are scarce. No electricity is present to run medical equipment except for occasional runs at the tertiary Ayder Hospital on a rare basis.

During the so called truce following the exit of occupying forces of Ethiopia from Eastern Tigray but not Western Tigray there has been a strangulating blockade of food, medicine, and fuel. Only 5% of necessary medical supplies were coming through the blockade. The Ethiopian military as well as the Ethiopian Ministry of Health under Lia Tadesse continue to limit what will be cleared for transport into Tigray from Ethiopia so that the people of Tigray would be “punished”.

Immunizations for children, oxytocin to help in childbirth, HIV testing, antibiotics, cancer drugs, tuberculosis drugs, anti-malarials, oxygen and surgical equipment are a few of the many banned items. Even while Ethiopia claimed to be assisting in medical supply the reality is that not a single item was donated by Ethiopia itself.  Only donated supplies from foreign countries in miniscule quantities are transported.

The medical crisis extends beyond just humans as there have been outbreaks of rabies in some cities from infected dogs spreading to humans. Feed for livestock is sparse and many animals have become infected with anthrax which has spread to humans as sick animals are desperately consumed.

While fifty thousand health care workers have attempted to remain on station to help the population they have gone unpaid essentially since  November 2020. There is no fuel or parts to allow transportation of patients to health care facilities. 

 

Medical Director gives witness of Mekelle bombing and severe shortages in Tigray

Medical Director of Ayder Hospital in Mekelle , Dr. Kibrom Gebreselassie Desta Source: Facebook

The following is a copy of the account given by Dr. Kibrom Gebreselassie Desta, Medical Director of Mekelle University Ayder Hospital of the bombing of the kindergarten in downtown Mekelle as documented on his Facebook.  The horror of injuries and death was magnified further by the Ethiopian government’s siege of medical supplies which rendered severely limited what medical care could be given to survivors.

 

It was noon.

Staff were leaving the hospital for the midday break.
 
I locked my door and sat in the couch. I didn’t want to go home for lunch. I know I have no prepared lunch at home. It has been more than a year since I got my salary, like any Tigrea government employee. Every commodity that you can get in the market is at least 10 times more expensive than its pre war value. But this too is if that commodity is available. Eating once a day is a routine thing for someone who can afford it. For someone who is the director of the biggest referral hospital in the entire region. For someone who had spent two decades in medical school, a subspecialist in Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery like myself. For the common people imagine how hard life is.
 
Our friends and family members who live abroad send us money sometime when the have means to do it. Dealers will cut a minimum of 35% of the cash and they give you at an exchange rate which is too low than the bank rate. You should be grateful as this is your only hope to see the sun rising the next day.
 
Photograph of the kindergarten bombed in Mekelle on August 26, 2022  Source: DW
 
While dozing in silence I was started by the sharp noise of an Ethiopian military jet. It was followed by a deafening explosion. I thought my hospital was the target. I run to the emergency room. Everyone was alert and ready to receive the victims. The head nurse told me he saw smoke in the neighbourhood which was at least one kilometre away from our hospital.
We heard the siren of an approaching Red Cross ambulance. It brought an injured elderly woman and a dead boy, at least 17 years old. He had a big hole in his chest. His heart was blown out. An instant death for the kid, but a lifetime horror for the woman who had to endure the scene in the entire trip. Soon more ambulances brought dead and injured children of the air strike. The target this time was a kindergarten. The children’s Amusement Park was completely destroyed. The area is a quite neighbourhood with no military installation or camp. Ethiopians, like their Eritrean allies are known to target market places and schools. They did hit their target once again. We in the receiving end of their two year long atrocities, it is another day of sorrow and bitter sadness.
 
In a hospital which has no budget in a year, with a staff who haven’t received their salary in 16 months, with no electricity (our sterilisation department, the operation theater, imaging department are not functioning because there is no fuel for generators. NGOs like WFP, USAID, UNICEF, WHO and OCHA were asked for help, none of them could help us. The treatment we got from UNICEF was the most painful. The guy there laughed at us when he heard neonates are dying of hypothermia. USAID and WFP opted not to respond to our quest. The others at least shared our pain.) or telecommunications services, here we are to treat our wounded. The emergency physician approached me and asked for more intravenous fluids. Her tears were visible. She knew the hospital has no fluids nor antibiotics. All I can do is shed my tears with her.
Such is our life in Mekelle, Tigray.
This too shall pass!