Medical Crisis in Tigray – November 2020 to April 2021

Eastern Tigray

• Adigrat hospital, one of the biggest hospitals in Tigray serving millions of people, is nearly non-functional. According to reports:
  • Only 2.5% of health workers are currently working;
  • Supplies and equipment have been looted or burnt;
  • The referral system has collapsed due to ambulances being looted by Eritrean soldiers.
• Fasti, Freweini and Hawzen hospitals were looted, hence have completely shut down.

Southern Tigray

• Michew, Mekoni, Adishu, Adiguden, and Kuha hospitals are suffering from shortage of medical supplies and are only open in the daytime due to a 6:00 PM curfew.

Mekelle (Capital city)

• Ayder Referral Hospital, Mekelle Hospital, and health centers are working at 30-40% capacity due to shortages of water, medical supplies, and equipment.
• Ambulance services do not operate between 8:00 PM and 6:00 AM due to curfew restrictions.

Central Tigray

• Hospitals in Adwa and Abiy Addi have been completely destroyed.
• Hospital in Semema was looted twice by soldiers andthen set on fire.
• Axum hospital only functions at 10% of its capacitydue to shortage of supplies and attrition of healthworkers.

Western Tigray

• Slekleka, Shul, and Sheraro hospitals were looted and destroyed and are no longer functioning.

Northwestern Tigray

• Health facilities in Debre Abay and Mai Kuhli havebeen looted and completely destroyed.

Malnutrition

• There is an alarming shortage of food supplies and access to clean water posing grave threats of children developing acute malnutrition.
• The few functioning health facilities in Tigray do not have the capacity to cope with the increasing number of children suffering from acute malnutrition and its health implications.

Lack of vaccines

• Due to the widespread looting and destruction of hospitals, there is a shortage of vaccines. As a result, many children have not been vaccinated, increasing child mortality rates as well as the likelihood of future outbreaks of infectious diseases.

Psychological trauma

• UNICEF reported that many families who fled Tigray into Sudan and those internally displaced have been separated and there were many unaccompanied children among the refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs).
• An increasing number of children have also been orphaned due to the war, leaving them vulnerable to abuse, psychological instability and delay or lack of access to medical services.
• Thus, many children are in need of medical and psychological attention to help them cope with the deep psychological traumas that they have been subjected to.

Lack of medication

• There have been reports of patients with chronic illnesses, such as tuberculosis, diabetes, or HIV/AIDS, requiring continuous medical attention and a supply of life-sustaining medication, having died as a result of Tigray’s dismantled health system. Pharmacies and hospitals through out the region are out of medications or do not have the electricity to maintain the necessary conditions for storing drugs, such as insulin, which need to be kept cold.
• Recently arriving medication at main hospitals are not being distributed to rural areas due to the threat of ongoing violence and no means of transportation.

Food scarcity

• The nutritional needs of chronically-ill individuals, whose livelihood is not only dependent on medication but also on a nutritionally diverse and regular diet, are not being met in the shelters housing thousands of internally displaced Tigrayans.
• These shelters have a scarce supply of clean water and food (wheat bread being the main food available) and are unable to provide the sanitary conditions required to maintain the health of those with compromised immune systems.

Threat of acute watery diarrhea

• The lack of clean water as well as the unhygienic and overcrowded conditions of informal camps have led to diarrhea being the second-biggest medical problem in these sites. This is especially concerning as it is a leading cause of child morbidity and mortality, and its transmission and severity are enhanced by malnutrition.
• These concerns will be heightened during the approaching rainy season as transmission of diseases such as acute watery diarrhea, malaria, or cholera will increase leading to potential disease outbreaks. Children, the majority of whom are currently malnourished and unvaccinated against many infectious diseases, will be most impacted by these outbreaks.

Spread of sexually transmitted infections (STIs):

• As a result of the abhorrent number of sexual assault cases, the number of those contracting STIs (including HIV) is on the rise along with demands for abortions and emergency contraceptives.

COVID-19 precautions neglected

• Little to no COVID-19 precautions are able to be observed in the overcrowded and unhygienic shelters where millions of displaced Tigrayans currently reside.
• Respiratory tract infections are the most common ailments in the region, yet COVID tests are unavailable to identify affected patients and isolate them. The lack of diagnostics results in the exposure of potentially COVID infected individuals to immunocompromised patients with pre-existing respiratory illnesses.