MDM pulls out because of unethical local working practices

Dr Jacques Beres, a surgeon from Medecins du Monde (MDM), which recently withdrew from Freetown, told IRIN today (Tuesday) his team could no longer operate there as local medical staff were demanding payment for operations and medicine. He said despite official government policy that medical aid should be free, the hospital staff at the city’s Connaught hospital were not adhering to this. Dr Beres said that contrary to media reports, there was no shortage of medicine and medical equipment in the capital.

“There is everything you need,” he said. The pharmacies were well stocked, but local doctors were selling their services and auxiliary staff selling the drugs. He gave the example of 15 mt of medicine delivered by the British ship, HMS Norfolk, which had been sold by hospital staff. Civilians with amputated limbs were being left untended, he added. He urged the international community to pressurise the Sierra Leone health authorities to at least allow expatriate medical workers to carry out their work properly and freely.

“The most shocking thing in all of this is not so much the selling of services and medicine, but that civilian victims are not being cared for,” he said.