I have just returned from a week’s visit to Libya. In our operating theatres we often have to witness stressful situations but what I saw in Libya is beyond comparison. For the first time I saw war and its terrible consequences at first hand.

There is nothing to grasp in Libya except suffering and chaos- Josie Muscat

Misrata and its citizens have suffered untold hardships. It is, in fact, no longer a city but a large heap of rubble. The main hospital, with its gaping holes, is proof of the indiscriminate targeting of civilians. I visited a makeshift hospital caring for the injured in Sirte. How can I help the reader to imagine the heart-rending situation? There are only three ITU beds for the hundreds of casualties coming in at every hour of the day and night. There are only three makeshift operating theatres. The rooms – I dare not call them wards – were absolutely crowded with people suffering from the horrific weaponry that the regime in Libya turned on its own people.

This “hospital” has a CT scan; only it does not function. It has a small laboratory; only it does not possess microbiology facilities. It lacks even an arterial blood gas analyser which evaluates how effectively the lungs are delivering oxygen to the blood and how efficiently they are eliminating carbon dioxide from it. It is so vital a presence in emergency departments. You want to help but where do you begin?

St James Hospital has been, and still is, trying to do its best to provide some tangible help. Both in Malta and in Tripoli it has volunteered its services to a people who are fighting for their freedom and dying in their thousands to achieve it. Although Tripoli itself is quite stable, and you can strongly feel the new openness that animates every breast in that city, in other places you can only smell the stench of blood and see and touch the suffering that conflict brings in its wake.

In such a scenario, we can only concentrate on saving lives while supporting as best we can the families who have lost loved ones in the conflict. People and lives come before any thought of business. Witnessing what I have witnessed makes me revolt at the idea that elsewhere there are those who can only think of grasping the moment. There is nothing to grasp in Libya except suffering and chaos.

St James Hospital has therefore decided to help provide two arterial blood gas analysers and consumables for Misurata. Since these are expensive machines, I appeal to the traditional generosity of the Maltese people to donate what they can towards this life-saving equipment.

Donations can be sent to the Misurata Fund, St James Hospital, G. Borg Olivier Street, Sliema. All donations will be appreciated and acknowledged. Accounts will also be published.

What you see scribbled on the blood-spattered, bullet-ridden walls of Misurata are “We will never surrender our freedom” and “Free Libya”.

All we can do is to help this small nation that is paying such a heavy price for freedom to achieve the dream of its people. It is a duty we are obliged to carry out. It is also in our national interest to have a democratic country as our neighbour.

Dr Muscat is chairman, Saint James Hospital, Libya.

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