Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Tripoli (Agenzia Fides) - "Due to the many clashes in recent months, which continue in some parts of Libya, a humanitarian emergency has been created. In Misratha, the hospital no longer exists, the most urgent cases are treated in some nursing homes that have been confiscated" says His Exc. Mgr. Giovanni Innocenzo Martinelli to Fides, Apostolic Vicar of Tripoli. "Yesterday I met with a delegation of 'Saint James Hospital' in Malta which is trying to transfer 15 patients whose conditions are serious and in urgent need of specialized care. A Maltese doctor told me that the Red Cross does not have the means to transfer patients who need specialized care abroad. There are means for bombs, but not for the Red Cross", says the Apostolic Vicar of Tripoli
For this reason Mgr.Martinelli launches an appeal through Fides, "so that dozens of young people with splinters or bullets close to the spine can be hospitalized in foreign structures, because they risk being paralyzed for life if they are not operated in time".
"If on one side the Red Cross provides transportation, and on the other side hospitals offer to admit these young people, this would be a great help for Libya. I say this because I found the direct testimony of a Maltese doctor who arrived in Libya to assess the situation, and states: 'alone we cannot meet the needs of these people'. There are dozens and dozens of wounded and sick people. Libyan hospitals, which in peacetime were good, now are not sufficient to meet all the needs", concludes Mgr. Martinelli. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 22/09/2011)
