AEGiS-BBC: Aid work 'increasingly hazardous': An armed militia man near Mogadishu, Somalia, on 11 December 2008 MSF says the dangerous environment in Somalia has curtailed its work

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2008. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Aid work 'increasingly hazardous': An armed militia man near Mogadishu, Somalia, on 11 December 2008 MSF says the dangerous environment in Somalia has curtailed its work

BBC News - December 22, 2008

Aid agencies are struggling to help those most in need as operating environments become increasingly hazardous, a medical charity said.

In a list of "top 10" humanitarian crises, Medecins Sans Frontieres said conditions in Somalia, DR Congo and Sudan were particularly challenging.

Threats in Somalia and Pakistan had forced MSF to limit its work, it said.

Fighting in Sudan's Darfur region and in DR Congo had also left it unable to reach vulnerable populations, it said.

Nicolas de Torrente, director of MSF-USA, told the BBC that the list, published annually, aimed to focus attention on places where people were suffering most.

"The issue for us is how to reach these people and how to try to provide them with meaningful assistance and there we find that there are many obstacles," he said.

"Governments don't want us to be present - they fear the exposure that comes with that. They want to deny assistance to these populations and, increasingly, we see attacks, directed attacks, against aid workers."

In Somalia, MSF said, attacks and threats against aid workers had forced it to curtail its operations, significantly reducing what it could offer an already weakened population.

The same thing had occurred in north-west Pakistan, MSF said, rending it less able to assist those fleeing the fighting there.

In eastern DR Congo, fighting had left many areas too dangerous for aid workers, even though people were in desperate need of help - a situation that was repeated in the Sudanese region of Darfur.

The charity also flagged up health crises in both Burma and Zimbabwe.

In Burma, it said, hundreds of thousands of people were dying from Aids because the government was failing to act.

In Zimbabwe, soaring inflation had left many HIV/Aids patients without even the bus fare needed to visit a clinic, it added.

Other crises included in the MSF list were childhood malnutrition around the world and an aid deficit in Iraq.

081222
BB081214

AEGiS is a 501(c)3, not-for-profit, tax-exempt, educational corporation. AEGiS is made possible through unrestricted funding from Boehringer Ingelheim, Bridgestone/Firestone Charitable Trust, Elton John AIDS Foundation UK, the National Library of Medicine, AIDS Walk of Orange County, and donations from users like you.

Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2008. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.

AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.

Copyright ©1980, 2008. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content.