By Libya Herald reporter.
Tunis, 27 April 2016:
A first consignment of medicines and medical equipment from France has arrived at the Benghazi . . .[restrict]Medical Centre (BMC). Paid for by the French government, some 113 cubic metres were delivered to the hospital, the types of medicines and quantities being chosen by the BMC itself.
The delivery results from the relationship that the French and the BMC have built in the past five years.
It started during the revolution, when French provided technical assistance to reopen the hospital, with an administrative expert then being seconded to it. Since 2012, various links have been established between the BMC and French hospitals, in particular with the Marseille Centre Hospitalier Universitaire and hospitals in Paris. A number of Libyan doctors also have been invited for courses and workshops in France.
A second consignment to the BMC is planned to arrived in the next few weeks.
Last week, the BMC said it was running out of medicines and equipment and warned of a “humanitarian disaster” if supplies did not arrive soon. It called for international help, saying that it had had to postpone a number of operations as a result.
A similar consignment to that delivered to Benghazi was taken to Tripoli for hospitals there when, on 16 April, French Foreign Minister Jean-François Ayrault made a lightening visit for talks with the Presidency Council. [/restrict]
