45,685 sick civilians treated by LTTE - radio

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 February 2002, 13:33 GMT]
Mobile medical units of the Liberation Tigers treated 45,685 civilians in the Vanni last year, according to a Voice of Tigers report this week. The civilians were mainly from the remote parts of the region, with little access to the mobile medical services of the ICRC. The largest percentage of these patients was treated for anaemia, the report said. Malnutrition and anaemia are rampant among children and adults in Vanni, induced by the decade long embargo clamped on the region by successive governments in Colombo and the acute shortage of food, medicines and drugs, including aspirin.

Sri Lankan government officials say that there are more than 370, 000 civilians in the Vanni. But the

main hospital for the region in the Kilinochchi town was destroyed by the Sri Lanka army the six years ago.

The mobile units of the LTTE treated 4955 civilians affected by common skin diseases and 1611 suffering

from Malaria, according to the VOT report.

"What our mobile units do is just a drop in the ocean. We have to make do with very limited resources

contributed by Tamil well-wishers abroad. But the big international aid agencies which are here with a clear

mandate to care for the sick and the war affected poor can do more to alleviate the suffering", said an LTTE

official.

02.02.2002: TamilNet:

War strategy flop costs thousands their hospital