ICRC News 27 / 16.07.97

ICRC News 27 / 16.07.97


** SHORT MENU....

REPUBLIC OF CONGO: THE EXODUS CONTINUES: Hundreds of people have been
wounded and an unspecified number killed in fighting that has raged
through Brazzaville since 5 June. Tens of thousands have fled the city as
a result of the shelling, some headed north, others south. 

SIERRA LEONE: THE WORSENING PUBLIC HEALTH SITUATION: On 7 July the Sierra
Leone Red Cross Society and the ICRC opened a new health-care post in
Macauley, a poor, inner-city area of Freetown, the Sierra Leonean capital. 



** STORIES IN FULL....


REPUBLIC OF CONGO
THE EXODUS CONTINUES

Hundreds of people have been wounded and an unspecified number killed in
fighting that has raged through Brazzaville since 5 June. Tens of
thousands have fled the city as a result of the shelling, some headed
north, others south. 

Obliged for security reasons to temporarily withdraw its expatriate staff
on 26 June, the ICRC has nevertheless continued to provide largely medical
assistance to hospitals and health-care posts through its local staff and
the Congolese Red Cross, still actively assisting the victims. 

On 9 July the ICRC received permission from the authorities in Kinshasa
for expatriate staff to cross the Congo river, thereby enabling two tonnes
of medicines and food to be dispatched urgently to Mbambu island, a
precarious refuge (given the lack of drinking water and sanitary
facilities) for the 3,000 displaced people who have gone there. 

A cease-fire came into force on 15 June, but widespread uncertainty
remains as to whether it will be observed on the ground. 



SIERRA LEONE
THE WORSENING PUBLIC HEALTH SITUATION

On 7 July the Sierra Leone Red Cross Society and the ICRC opened a new
health-care post in Macauley, a poor, inner-city area of Freetown, the
Sierra Leonean capital. Consultations, treatment and basic vaccinations
for children (diphtheria, tetanus, polio and measles) are provided free of
charge. Several thousand people have already been seen at four similar
centres, which were opened in west Freetown the previous week. Meanwhile,
an ICRC surgical team is continuing its work at Freetown's Netland
hospital, to which ten of the 40 people wounded in the last weekend's
fighting were admitted. 

A few medicines are still available at Freetown pharmacies, but as most
people have not been paid for months, very few can afford to buy them. To
make matters worse, the onset of the rainy season has seen a sharp rise in
the number of cases of malaria, dysentery and respiratory infection -
diseases that can prove fatal if they go untreated. 

The situation is every bit as alarming in the rest of the country.
Repeated clashes between rival forces along the main roads have made any
movement hazardous. ICRC delegates operating out of the south-eastern town
of Kenema are still bringing assistance to hospitals and a few other
health-care facilities scattered throughout the area. On 10 July an
ICRC-chartered aircraft flew in 1.6 tonnes of medicines to supply the
pharmacy at the hospital in Kenema. 

The violence currently prevailing in several areas of Sierra Leone is
having tragic human consequences. Recent population movements touched off
by the fighting have not only endangered people's health but led to
hunger. The rainy season is already the most critical period of the year
for the food supply; now, with most food-aid organizations driven out by
the fighting, a spectacular increase in malnutrition is likely.