A medical task group...

You've probably heard the news. The President of Sudan has been charged with war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity and a warrant has been issued for his arrest. Rather than handing him over to the International Criminal Court the Sudan government has reacted by announcing the expulsion of aid agencies from the country. I thought this would only apply to Darfur and the northern regions but I have heard Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) are preparing to leave Aweil following the abduction of three of their doctors in Darfur.

Even though the MSF hospital looks more like a tent than a hospital, it is the only thing close to genuine medical care in the region. They provide excellent treatment to babies and children, including giving vaccinations. Soon it seems they will be gone.

This of course increases the sense of urgency in providing the medical assistance that Ang'er and Deborah, the midwife at Aweil Civic Hospital, have asked us for.
I have established a medical task group which is currently working towards sourcing the required medical equipment and supplies to resource the midwives and birthing assistants. When this is ready we plan to take a team to Aweil which will include an Australian midwife working with a Sudanese midwife to provide some basic training and establish a small maternity section in the defunct Aweil hospital. The task group includes Dr Victoria Anip, a Sudanese doctor based at Modbury Hospital, two Sudanese midwives - Asha Sulaman and Aderek Rieng - and Ros Stafford-Green who I introduced a few articles earlier.

It is hard to comprehend that a community that has so little appears to be losing the small amount of medical assistance it has received from the outside world. Please pray for our medical task group as we seek to respond to the ever-increasing need.