Doctors Without Borders' responds to Kumba school attack DWB
Gunmen believed to be separatist fighters opened fire on a Doctors Without Borders ambulance in the early hours of Thursday, February 4, 2021, at Mbalangi, along the Kumba-Buea highway.
Cameroon-Info.Net learned that Doctors Without Borders left Kumba to Mbalangi in response to a distress call.
After picking up the patient from Mbalangi, the aid team was on its way to the hospital in Muyuka when gunmen fired at the ambulance injuring the ambulance nurse.
“In the early hours of 4 February, a Doctors Without Borders ambulance was fired on by armed men while responding to a call in Muyuka, South-West Cameroon,” said Ms. Antoinette Buinda, Communication Officer for Doctors Without Borders in the South West Region. “The ambulance was hit and the accompanying nurse was injured. Doctors Without Borders condemns this attack on our colleague and a clearly marked ambulance. Healthcare facilities, including ambulances, are not targets.”
Despite the attack, the aid team succeeded to take the patient to the hospital in Muyuka along with the injured nurse.
“Following this attack, a second ambulance was dispatched to pick up the patient who is in critical condition and now receiving medical attention. Our colleague is also receiving medical attention and is currently recovering from their injuries,” Ms. Antoinette Buinda said in a statement.
Cameroon-Info.Net understands that Doctors Without Borders’ medical teams have been responding to the severe and ongoing effects of the crisis in North-West and South-West Regions of Cameroon since 2018.
Ms. Antoinette Buinda insists that Doctors Without Borders’ teams “provide neutral and impartial medical humanitarian assistance through our emergency ambulance referrals, secondary level care, and a decentralized model of community care”.
For the past four years, Cameroon´s North-West and South-West regions have been rocked by armed violence between government forces and non-state armed groups, which has displaced more than 700,000 people.
The humanitarian needs are huge. Displaced communities face difficulties accessing basic services, including healthcare.
The crisis has severely affected the public health system. Many health centers have closed or are non-functional, medical workers and facilities are being directly targeted by violence, and insecurity is hindering the supply of drugs and medical equipment.
Auteur:
