Nearly 70% of health facilities in the northern region of Tigray, affected by the conflict in Ethiopia, have been vandalized and equipment looted, a report by the medical charity MSF found.
The facilities have been attacked “deliberately” to make them “non-functional,” Médecins Sans Frontières said.
The situation was having a “devastating” impact on the population, the organization said in a statement.
Ethiopian officials say most health services have been restored.
The conflict broke out in Tigray on November 4, 2020, when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ordered an offensive to topple the former ruling party in the region, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), after his fighters captured military bases federal governments in the region.
The fight continues, despite Abiy declaring victory in late November.
The situation in Tigray “remains extremely worrying” and the conflict continues to displace people, said the UN humanitarian affairs agency (OCHA) last week.
He added that while humanitarian workers have now been able to access parts of the region, “many people remain in areas that are difficult to access due to insecurity, logistical and administrative obstacles”.
Hundreds of civilians have been killed and tens of thousands displaced in the past five months, a situation that has led to condemnation worldwide.
Last month, Amnesty International accused troops from neighboring Eritrea of killing hundreds of people in the ancient city of Aksum on 28 and 29 November, saying the massacres could constitute a crime against humanity.
What is the situation with health centers in Tigray?
Only 13% of the 106 facilities that MSF teams visited between December and early March were operating normally.
They also found broken equipment, broken windows and doors, medicines and patient files scattered across the floors of health centers in Debre Abay and May Kuhli, in northwest Tigray.
On a visit to a hospital in the central city of Adwa, he found that medical equipment, including ultrasound machines and monitors, had been deliberately destroyed.
A hospital in the city of Semema was set on fire while a delivery room in Sebeya was destroyed after the facility was hit by a rocket, MSF said.
The looting of health facilities still continues, the organization said.
The Ethiopian embassy in London told the BBC in a statement that 75% of hospitals in Tigray were now operational and 10% partially operated.
He added that 90% of health professionals were providing the necessary health services and that he had implemented a vaccination campaign against Covid-19 in the region.
Who is to blame?
MSF did not directly identify the perpetrators, but asked “armed groups in the conflict” to respect and protect health facilities and medical staff.
He accused Ethiopian and Eritrean soldiers of occupying some hospitals. Both governments denied that Eritrean troops entered Tigray, despite persistent reports.
More about the Tigray conflict:
“The army used the Abiy Addi hospital [in central Tigray] as a military base and to stabilize its wounded soldiers, “said MSF emergency coordinator Kate Nolan.
“At that time, it was not accessible to the general population. They had to go to the city health center, which had no equipment for secondary medical care – they cannot do blood transfusions, for example, or treat gunshot wounds, ”she added.
MSF also accused Eritrean soldiers of using a health center in Mugulat, in eastern Tigray, as a base.
He also accused armed groups of seizing ambulances.
But Ethiopian officials blame TPLF fighters for damage to health infrastructure.
What was the impact?
Tigray used to have one of the best health systems in Ethiopia, with a network of health posts in towns, health centers and hospitals in the cities, but the conflict has “almost completely collapsed” the system, according to MSF.
In the past four months, children have not been vaccinated, making them vulnerable to infectious diseases in the future, the charity said.
Pregnant women, patients with chronic illnesses like diabetes, hypertension and HIV, as well as psychiatric patients, are without life-saving drugs, he added.
“Health facilities need to be rehabilitated and receive more supplies and ambulances, and the team needs to receive salaries and the opportunity to work in a safe environment,” said MSF director general Oliver Behn.
The Ethiopian embassy in London said the MSF assessment did not recognize the government’s efforts to repair the infrastructure and restore the health sector, “which is rapidly resuming service”.