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Pakistan: Health structures and services in Bajaur must be respected

20 Apr 2013
Press release
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An explosion today, Saturday 20th April, at the gate of the District Headquarter Hospital in Khar, Bajaur Agency injured and killed several people, leading the international medical humanitarian association Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) to insist that medical structures and patients be spared from violence.

MSF is working in Bajaur, which borders Afghanistan, and calls for respect for the safety and security of patients, health facilities, and medical staff.

All actors in the area must ensure that medical activities can take place unhindered and not be targeted.

Since March, 2013 MSF medical teams have been running a mobile clinic in Bajaur, providing primary health care services in three Basic Healthcare Units (BHUs).

Some 200 patients are treated every week. MSF is committed to responding to the medical needs of the population in the area.

The safety and security of healthcare is essential for MSF to continue to expand its medical intervention in Bajaur.

MSF in Pakistan

Since 1986, MSF has been working in Pakistan with Pakistani communities and Afghan refugees who are victims of armed conflict and natural disasters or who lack access to medical care.

MSF teams are currently providing free emergency medical care in Kurram Agency, Bajaur Agency, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and Sindh provinces.

MSF relies solely on private financial contributions from individuals around the world and does not accept funding from any government, donor agency, or military or politically-affiliated group for its activities in Pakistan.

Read more about MSF's work in Pakistan