WHO: Death toll in Tripoli reached 376 and injuries hit 1822

Since April 04, Libya’s capital Tripoli has been under attack by forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar, who is backed by France, UAE, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

WHO said casualties had been in the hundreds and by late April, more than 300 people were dead and more than 1600 wounded.

“An estimated 40 000 people fled their homes and now live with relatives or in centres for the displaced.” WHO added.

WHO Libya has deployed 3 teams with different specialties, including general surgeons, orthopedic surgeons, a vascular surgeon and anaesthesiologists, to 3 hospitals receiving the wounded from the front lines.

“The hospitals are overwhelmed with injured people requiring surgery,” says Dr Hussein Hassan, Health Emergencies Team Lead for WHO Libya.

“WHO’s emergency medical teams are helping them save lives.” He said.

In the first 3 weeks of deployment, the medical teams performed 144 major surgeries and 104 minor ones.

Early in the fighting, WHO said it had distributed emergency medical supplies and trauma kits to Tripoli’s local health authorities. The supplies enabled field emergency teams, field hospitals and ambulance services to sustain their first- and second-line responses.

WHO is also supporting  field hospitals and field ambulance services with medical supplies, including emergency kits for trauma care.

As the number of displaced families increases, WHO is coordinating partners to ensure that primary health care services are available to them.

“As the Tripoli conflict becomes a protracted crisis, WHO Libya will also activate its disease surveillance and rapid response system to prevent outbreaks of infectious diseases.” It added.

“We don’t know how long this will last,” says Dr Hassan. “But as long as people need medical care, WHO will be there.”