8th February 2012

While a food crisis in the Sahel region is looming a lack of security has led Doctors of the World to suspend its activities in Mali.

"Some have fled the cities to take refuge in the bush without water, without provisions and without health care," explains Pierre Verbeeren from Doctors of the World Belgium, "the fighting and insecurity makes it difficult to provide assistance to people and assure the security of our staff."

People who stayed behind cannot access healthcare as many of the local staff we work with have fled to the south of the country to escape the fighting.

“We are there to support the national healthcare infrastructure and we don’t have the staff to replace all the health care professionals who are normally supposed to work in those healthcare facilities,” Verbeeren added.

Listen to Pierre Verbeeren's interview on BBC World Service, and read more on BBC News.

Doctors of the World is concerned that humanitarian assistance is being reduced at a time when aid groups are getting ready to respond to a impending food crisis in the Sahel region which includes northern Mali.

Doctors of the World in Mali

We have been present in Mali since 2002.  In the north, we were operating mobile teams to deliver primary health care, nutritional care, preventive care such as immunisations, antenatal care and monitoring child growth.