MSF provides emergency medical supplies to victims of violence in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

Hundreds of wounded arrived in Bishkek hospitals on April 7, following violent confrontations between armed forces and protesters in the streets of Kyrgyzstan’s capital. Médecins Sans Frontières’s team in Kyrgyzstan immediately responded yesterday by providing the National Hospital and the main ambulance station with emergency medical supplies and drugs – bandages and other sterile material, intravenous injection sets, antibiotics and painkillers. More material and drugs are to be donated today by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) to three health structures in the capital city.

In coordination with ICRC, MSF staff in Bishkek are visiting hospitals and meeting health authorities today to further assess needs in terms of medical material and human resources. “In the National Hospital, injured people are still arriving today. We have to ensure the hundreds of victims have access to proper medical care. Most of them have been beaten or shot and some suffered heavy traumas to their heads or chests”, said Alexandre BAILLAT, MSF’s Head of Mission in Kyrgyzstan.

Additional medical material including special medical kits to take care of 300 wounded and surgical material are currently being sent from MSF’s supply centre in Bordeaux, France, to Kyrgyzstan.

MSF has been running a tuberculosis programme in the Kyrgyz penitentiary system since 2006.