Bahrain

MSF has been forced to cancel a conference on medical ethics due to take place in Bahrain in April because of a lack of assurances from authorities.

In Bahrain, people continue to avoid seeking medical care in public hospitals for fear of discrimination, harassment, and ill treatment.

On May 26, a suicide bomber killed 36 people and wounded approximately 60 more near a police station in northwestern Pakistan’s Hangu district, just a few blocks from the hospital where MSF’s team lives and works.

MSF condemns the armed raid of its premises in Bahrain on July 28 and the subsequent detention of one of its staff members.

Using medical aid as a camouflage for military advantage threatens the lives of patients in the most precarious and embattled places worldwide. 

An MSF staff member detained for weeks in Bahrain was released uncharged on June 11.

Saeed Mahdi has been detained for weeks in Bahrain after being severely beaten upon arrest by authorities. No information has been provided about his condition and whereabouts.

Doctors and nurses in Bahrain must be allowed to provide healthcare in line with medical ethics, without the fear of reprisal, says MSF General Director Christopher Stokes. 

A report released today by MSF illustrates how Bahrain’s hospitals and health centers are no longer safe havens for the sick or injured, but rather places to be feared.

Across North Africa and the Middle East, MSF has been supplying and assisting hospitals and health structures where medical staff face increased numbers of injured people.

As civil unrest leads to violent clashes in a number of countries in the Middle Eastern and Mediterranean regions, MSF emergency staff are helping to fill gaps in the medical services for people injured in the protests.