Doctors to speak of treating people in Gaza and Sudan

An upcoming event on Leeside will hear from emergency doctors who are treating patients as the devastating wars in Gaza and Sudan continue.

The staff from the international medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) include Dr Chris Hook and Jacob Burns, who both worked in Gaza, and Dr Jennifer Hulse, who recently returned from Darfur, Sudan.

All three will also participate in an audience Q&A at the free event at the Triskel Arts Centre in Cork on 5 September.

MSF has said most of Gaza’s hospitals are out of service, after being repeatedly attacked, besieged and raided after over ten months of relentless bombardment and devastation.

Patients and medical staff are being killed, MSF said, adding that their medical teams have been providing emergency surgeries, wound treatment, medical and maternity care in increasingly difficult circumstances in Gaza since 7 October, including in two of the main remaining hospitals, Nasser and Al-Aqsa hospitals.

“Many injured people in Gaza suffer from extreme burns, major fractures that won’t heal properly and may go on to require amputations. Many of these patients, even if they can get back to something resembling normal life, will have severe chronic pain that will require substantial pain management as well. It would be a huge burden even on the most functional healthcare system, let alone for a system under intense pressure, like in Gaza,” said Dr Chris Hook, during his time working with MSF at Nasser hospital in Gaza.

Meanwhile, MSF also said people in Sudan have faced horrific levels of violence since the war started there in March 2023. The charity said widespread fighting and repeated attacks, abuse and exploitation, as well as persistent attacks on health workers and medical facilities, are having disastrous consequences for the health and well-being of communities across the country.

Dr Jennifer Hulse worked with MSF in Nyala Hospital in the state of South Darfur. The hospital had been so badly damaged in the fighting before she arrived that it was left barely functional.

“In terms of the sheer numbers, the war in Sudan is the biggest humanitarian crisis in the world right now. Many thousands of people have been killed or injured, and over twelve million have been forced to flee their homes to escape the violence. The economy and the healthcare system have collapsed, with prices spiralling and many people unable to afford the basics,” said Dr Jennifer Hulse.

MSF is currently active in eight states in Sudan, providing lifesaving assistance to people affected by the violence, displacement, and disruptions in the health system.

To register for the event, see MSF.ie, email events@dublin.msf.org or call 01-6603337.