Five months after the French intervention in Mali, the town of Timbuktu doesn’t have an ambulance.
The only ambulance functioning in this town was totaled by the alliance of jihadist and other rebels who occupied the town from April of 2012 to January of 2013, time of the liberation of northern Mali by French troops. First, they stripped it of all its life saving equipment…then they used it to transport rebels and weapons….then they crashed it. It’s totaled, useless. Now there is no ambulance in the largest geographic region in Mali.
This is one of the many unsettling discoveries made by Dr. Robert Murphy, Director of the Center for Global Health at Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, during his “humanitarian action” to Timbuktu. Dr. Murphy visited Timbuktu Hospital to assess the damages inflicted during the on-going conflict to the healthcare delivery of this key town in the north of Mali.
“Timbuktu Hospital and the population of Timbuktu are in desperate need for help to match the level of hospital care to the very special, historical circumstances they’re suffering,” commented Dr. Murphy. “Many of the interventions to improve the only local hospital could be quick fixes that should have not been put on hold for these many months.”
Having a town like Timbuktu deprived of ambulance service is especially shocking considering the vulnerable situation of civilians in the town and the potential for terrorist attacks. The United Nations is gearing up for an operation that will start July 1st.
Dr. Murphy also toured areas of the hospital where equipment had been looted by jihadist rebels. At the same time, the surviving equipment lacks the necessary supplies to be properly used. Among other areas, Dr. Murphy visited the laboratory services, a key area of the hospital where he has pledged his help and support to the local healthcare and political authorities.
One of the big challenges facing the hospital relates to the power generators, fundamental due to the devastating power shortages in the
city. (Power only runs from 7pm to midnight).
The ambulance that was taken and totaled by the rebels played a prominent part in one of the darkest moment of Timbuktu under harsh Sharia Law. According to the New York Times, the ambulance was requested from the hospital after the public hand amputation of a young man accused of stealing. You can read this disturbing account of what Timbuktu endured under Shara Law in this article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/01/world/africa/timbuktu-endured-terror-under-harsh-shariah-law.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
If you would like to get involved, or if you know of potential donors and patrons to assist The Timbuktu Hospital, please contact me, as soon as possible at emiliow@aol.com
Thanks!!
Emilio Williams
The only ambulance functioning in this town was totaled by the alliance of jihadist and other rebels who occupied the town from April of 2012 to January of 2013, time of the liberation of northern Mali by French troops. First, they stripped it of all its life saving equipment…then they used it to transport rebels and weapons….then they crashed it. It’s totaled, useless. Now there is no ambulance in the largest geographic region in Mali.
This is one of the many unsettling discoveries made by Dr. Robert Murphy, Director of the Center for Global Health at Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, during his “humanitarian action” to Timbuktu. Dr. Murphy visited Timbuktu Hospital to assess the damages inflicted during the on-going conflict to the healthcare delivery of this key town in the north of Mali.
“Timbuktu Hospital and the population of Timbuktu are in desperate need for help to match the level of hospital care to the very special, historical circumstances they’re suffering,” commented Dr. Murphy. “Many of the interventions to improve the only local hospital could be quick fixes that should have not been put on hold for these many months.”
Having a town like Timbuktu deprived of ambulance service is especially shocking considering the vulnerable situation of civilians in the town and the potential for terrorist attacks. The United Nations is gearing up for an operation that will start July 1st.
Dr. Murphy also toured areas of the hospital where equipment had been looted by jihadist rebels. At the same time, the surviving equipment lacks the necessary supplies to be properly used. Among other areas, Dr. Murphy visited the laboratory services, a key area of the hospital where he has pledged his help and support to the local healthcare and political authorities.
One of the big challenges facing the hospital relates to the power generators, fundamental due to the devastating power shortages in the
city. (Power only runs from 7pm to midnight).
The ambulance that was taken and totaled by the rebels played a prominent part in one of the darkest moment of Timbuktu under harsh Sharia Law. According to the New York Times, the ambulance was requested from the hospital after the public hand amputation of a young man accused of stealing. You can read this disturbing account of what Timbuktu endured under Shara Law in this article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/01/world/africa/timbuktu-endured-terror-under-harsh-shariah-law.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
If you would like to get involved, or if you know of potential donors and patrons to assist The Timbuktu Hospital, please contact me, as soon as possible at emiliow@aol.com
Thanks!!
Emilio Williams
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