Intense fighting causes severe trauma casualties in Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan

Despite the challenges, the MSF-supported Boost hospital remains operational and has seen a marked increase in trauma needs over the past week.  
 
“In just one day we performed 10 surgeries on people injured by violence, which is unheard of for us as we are not Lashkar Gah’s main provider of trauma care,” says Leahy. “Before last week we were operating on average on two war-wounded people per day.” 
  
The main trauma center in the city is run by another organization, and is also under immense pressure; the people they cannot admit are sent to MSF for care. “Some of our colleagues are staying overnight in the hospital so they can keep on treating patients. The situation has been dire for months but now it is even worse.” 

Between July 29 and 31 alone, MSF treated 70 war-wounded patients. In total, from May 3 until July 31, we treated 482 war-wounded people, nearly all (92 percent) for injuries caused by shells and bullets, and around a quarter (26 percent) under 18 years old. The patients seen by MSF are just a fraction of the total number injured by the violence.  
 
The fighting exacerbates health needs beyond trauma care. Given the lack of well-functioning and affordable medical facilities in Helmand, people rely on the 300-bed Boost hospital, the only referral hospital in the province, for essential neonatal, pediatric, inpatient, intensive care, maternity, malnutrition, and surgical services, among others. 
 
Since May, however, MSF staff have witnessed an alarming increase in the severity of patients’ illnesses when they arrive at the hospital. People have described how, despite needing medical care, they have been forced to wait at home until the fighting subsides or to take dangerous alternate routes. With fighting taking place not far from Boost hospital, and people too afraid to leave their homes due to the violence, access to health care is dangerously limited. 

“We have had patients who were caught in crossfire. On top of something like severe diarrhea, they have also arrived with a bullet in their shoulder or their leg,” says an MSF doctor working in the emergency room and intensive care unit at Boost hospital. 

“The conflict leads people to think 10 times about whether they really want to make the journey. They delay until they can’t wait anymore, when their relatives haven’t opened their eyes for two or three days, have shallow breathing, and are unresponsive. From a medical perspective, that’s almost too late.” 

When people do make it to care, that is just the first step. The effects of the conflict have long-term consequences. “All my family depend on me, but I feel like in the future I won’t be able to work because of my injuries. It’ll be very hard for me to feed my family. I’ve left my home and I cannot go back there,” says an MSF patient with bullet wounds to both his arms. 
 
Even amongst MSF staff, the impact of the fighting is clearly visible. “Health care staff are exhausted. The work itself, seeing all these patients, is hugely difficult. And then on top of that, people have to deal a lot with outside pressures and worries,” says an MSF doctor. 

Our teams continue to provide much-needed health care in Boost hospital, while continuing to run projects in Herat, Kandahar, Khost, and Kunduz.