South Ossetia/Georgia conflict
Following the outbreak of violence in the breakaway region of South Ossetia and subsequent attacks of the Russian army on the Georgian territory, MSF is preoccupied with the situation of the thousands who have fled the conflict.
Assessing the refugee situation on north of the Russian border
Two MSF assessment teams arrived in the region of North Ossetia this weekend, where the main flow of people fleeing the violence from South Ossetia was expected. Although numbers are difficult to establish, there are clearly many people escaping from the conflict zone, heading mainly to the Russian province of North Ossetia, but also to other regions within Georgia.
MSF teams are assessing the needs of the displaced people and are ready to provide staff support, as well as medical kits and other relief items. Currently, the needs of those who sought refuge in North Ossetia seem to be met by the Russian health authorities and the emergency organisation Emercom. MSF is also trying to gain access to South Ossetia, which is currently inaccessible.
MSF is already present in Georgia and Abkhazia, providing healthcare to patients affected by drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB). The teams are preparing themselves to provide support to hospitals in Georgia and to evaluate the needs of the people who have been displaced by the conflict.
Support to Georgian hospitals and initial evaluations
Our team in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, will support several hospitals in Georgia, providing medicines for patients who have been injured and burned, in collaboration with the health authorities of Georgia. The hospitals in various regions of the territory have admitted close to 1200 injured patients who are being cared for by Georgian doctors.
Other evaluations will be conducted on Wednesday August 12, in the internally displaced-persons camps located around the city of Tbilisi. There are 3 camps in the city and 5 camps surrounding the capital, each with a few hundred displaced persons.
Our team will also attempt to access South Ossetia to pursue evaluations, once access is gained.
Concerns relating to the provision of resistant-TB programmes
The on-going treatment of patients affected by multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR TB) is also of key concern to our teams. Suspending a TB programme by even a few days can have dire consequences on the health of patients.
For the time being, the two MDRTB programmes for our patients will continue. In Soukhoumi (Abkhazia), our team is still providing treatment to 80 patients in the hospital and in 7 mobile clinics. In Zougdidi (in Georgia), where close to 120 people are under treatment, MSF international staff have been evacuated, while local teams remain in the clinics to provide care. Despite their presence, three patients have already left the hospital, which will probably have a negative consequence on their treatment. As TB is a contagious disease, their departure may also pose a serious health risk for those they come into contact with.