KENYA: World's largest war field hospital ceases operations after 20 years and more than 60,000 surgeries for southern Sudanese and is being handed over to the Kenyan authorities

Record ID: 362827

  • Title: KENYA: World's largest war field hospital ceases operations after 20 years and more than 60,000 surgeries for southern Sudanese and is being handed over to the Kenyan authorities
  • Date: 1st July 2006
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF SICK PATIENTS INSIDE THE HOSPITAL WARD
  • Embargoed: 16th July 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kenya
  • Country: Kenya
  • Topics: Health
  • Reuters ID: LVAE25WDISZB56YGLRPRD3SKSGY6
  • Story Text: The Lopiding hospital in Lokichokio, northern Kenya, which provided southern Sudan with war surgery and emergency medical care for 19 years, was handed over to the Kenyan authorities by the ICRC on Friday (June 30).
    After the Comprehensive Peace Agreement was signed in January 2005, the number of patients admitted to Lopiding Hospital began to decrease. At the same time, the Sudanese authorities started rebuilding the medical infrastructure in southern Sudan, which had been destroyed during the years of civil war. In response to changing needs, the ICRC will now step up its activities in the Juba Teaching Hospital, where has been working since 1993 supporting surgical, medical and paediatric services as well as training medical staff.
    Due to the large numbers of war wounded, their long travelling distance to reach a medical facility and insufficient facilities to treat wounded in southern Sudan, the ICRC was prompted to provide surgical care and expertise for war wounded.
    Lopiding Hospital, placed in one of Kenya's most underdeveloped areas close to the border of Sudan, opened in June 1987.
    The war wounded -- civilians as well as fighters -- were taken to Lopiding Hospital through an air medical evacuation system, supported by humanitarian actors.
    Approximately 95 percent of the Sudanese patients admitted arrived to the hospital by air.
    This action may very well be the largest and longest cross-border, non-military air medical evacuation action in history.
    Lopiding was at one point the largest field hospital in the world with a peak capacity of 700 beds. It treated tens of thousands of Sudanese patients and performed more than 4,000 operations a year.
    "This ICRC action may very well have been the largest and longest non-military cross-border air evacuation of casualties in history", said Christoph Harnisch, ICRC Delegate General for Africa.
    Lopiding faced many logistical difficulties. Nevertheless, the hospital, which had two operating theatres, an intensive care and high-dependency unit and ten wards, became a training centre on war surgery for hundreds of health workers who later returned to southern Sudan or went on to use their skills in other countries.
    By the end of May 2006, the medical staff at Lopiding had cared for nearly 38,000 patients and performed over 60,000 surgical operations.
    "Running a hospital in a peaceful setting might bring those running it into trouble when conflicting political interest as one can easily understand when observing political bickering, budgets, locations and size of our hospital in our lands," ICRC delegate general for Africa Christoph Harnisch said.
    From now on, Lopiding will be managed by the Kenyan Ministry of Health. It will continue to run as a sub-district hospital with a capacity of 150 beds to serve the community of the Turkana district whose leaders were consulted by the ICRC in the run-up to the handover to ensure that the ICRC's legacy meets local needs.
    "The government of Kenya is indeed very grateful for the very kind and humanitarian gesture shown by the ICRC, of agreeing to donate this health facility to assist the local people, in overcoming the burden of disease," said Kenyan Vice President while stressing the need for improved access to health for local people.
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