LIBYA: Treating the Wounded and Training Doctors

Update From The Field: Libya

EMERGENCY Surgical Centre for Victims of War, Gernada.

In the last few days, fighting has intensified on the outskirts of Derna, Libya. Several individuals who were wounded in the fighting were immediately transferred to our hospital in Gernada, where our surgical team is now treating their injuries.

Since October 2015, EMERGENCY has been operating a Surgical Centre in Gernada, Al Bayda Province, Libya. The Centre offers free, high-quality surgical and trauma treatment for war victims. It has already treated over 700 patients and performed more than 100 surgical operations.

Located approximately 70km from Derna, and 150km from Benghazi, the Surgical Centre is intended to become a reference point not only for those living nearby, but also for patients coming from across the country.

‘Despite the uncertainty of the future,’ says Emanuele, EMERGENCY’s Program Coordinator in Libya, ‘EMERGENCY continues to treat war victims in its hospital in Gernada‘

The war in Libya, which began in 2011, severely affected the national healthcare system: due to a widespread lack of resources and staff, access to basic and specialised healthcare is difficult for large portions of the population.

In addition to the provision of surgical and medical care, the Centre aims to contribute to re-building the capacity and sustainability of the Libyan national health system by offering professional training programs on patient stabilization, treatment, and trauma management. 70 Libyan national staff are currently being trained by a team of ten international healthcare professionals. The training will cover not only the provision of high-level medical care, but also hygiene and day to day hospital management.

In our hospitals we give great importance to the training of local staff. For EMERGENCY, providing sustainable healthcare means training medical and non-medical staff who can continue to provide free, high quality healthcare after we leave.

Find out more about our work in Libya here.