Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
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December 22, 2008

Aid Group: Somalia, Congo, Burma Among Top 10 Crises
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=2122B6F:A6F02AD83191E1601E6EC0764D82F28430EB2FA2E66CBB22&
 
Doctors Without Borders says it hopes to focus much needed attention on
millions of people who are trapped in conflict and war 
An international aid organization says violence in Somalia, forced
civilian displacements in eastern Congo, and neglected medical
emergencies in Burma and Zimbabwe are among its top 10 humanitarian
crises of 2008.In the release of its annual list Monday, Doctors Without
Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres) says it hopes to focus much needed
attention on the millions of people who are trapped in conflict and war.
The group says it also hopes to draw attention to medical crises, and
the plight of those whose immediate health needs are being neglected.
MSF says the ability to address immense medical needs in Pakistan,
Somalia, Sudan and Iraq is limited by the ongoing violent conflicts in
those countries. Over the past year, the group says it has had to
curtail its operations in Somalia as violence there intensified and aid
workers faced direct attacks and threats. MSF says the impact of Cyclone
Nargis on Burma earlier this year forced the country's reclusive
military regime to open its doors to international aid, but it says
diseases like AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria are all but ignored. The
group says that in places such as Burma and Zimbabwe, government
mistrust of aid organizations as well as health care policies have
limited the amount of assistance groups can provide. In Burma alone,
Doctors Without Borders says hundreds of thousands are needlessly dying
due to a severe lack of HIV/AIDS treatment. Doctors Without Borders says
the government there is doing far too little to help its people. The
group says the government of Niger is also ignoring its crisis of child
malnutrition. It notes that in 2008, Niger forced the termination of a
Doctors Without Borders program in the region of Maradi, where tens of
thousands are suffering acute malnutrition.