At least 65 patients who were wounded in shooting early this morning in Kalma camp in Darfur, Sudan, have been admitted to the clinic of Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). Kalma camp, home to more than 90,000 people, is one of the largest camps for displaced people in Darfur.
MSF is trying to secure a safe passage to evacuate the most severely wounded patients to the hospital in Nyala for emergency care. More than half of the 65 people admitted are women and children.
Today’s shooting follows weeks of increasing tension in and around Kalma camp. In recent weeks the population has also suffered from displacement as a result of flooding, which has affected about 6,000 families, and a shortage of clean drinking water as a result of insufficient fuel to run water pumps.
MSF has worked in Kalma camp since May 2004. Staff run an outpatient department, which provides an average of 4,500 consultations every month. MSF is also focusing on mother-and-child care and running a women's health center with up to 200 consultations per day. The center provides ante- and post-natal care, as well as delivery assistance for high-risk pregnancies and referrals for obstetric emergencies. Medical treatment as well as counseling are offered to survivors of sexual and gender-based violence. A mental health program addresses the profound psychosocial stress and trauma experienced by the population as a result of tenuous living conditions and the psychological trauma directly resulting from conflict. The MSF team also responds to the emergency needs of displaced people arriving to the camp.
