Libya hospitals face collapse if Asian staff flee

Libya has warned of a "total collapse" of its health care system as the chaos plaguing the country threatens to send into flight many of the Filipino and Indian staff on whom its hospitals depend.
Fighting between rival militias in Tripoli over the past three weeks and bloody clashes between Islamists and army special forces in the eastern city of Benghazi have prompted several countries to evacuate their nationals and diplomatic staff.
Now, 3,000 health workers from the Philippines, making up 60 per cent of Libya's hospital staff, could leave -- along with workers from India, who account for another 20 per cent.

Libyan hospitals, meanwhile, are flooded with a wave of admissions, victims of the fighting which has shaken the capital and Benghazi.
In Tripoli, at least 102 people have been killed and 452 wounded in the clashes that began on July 13, the health ministry said Wednesday.
It said 77 people have been killed and 289 wounded in Benghazi's violence.

Manila already urged its citizens in Libya to leave on July 20 after a kidnapped Filipino worker was found beheaded.
Of the estimated 13,000 Filipinos in Libya, only around 700 heeded the warning and left. The rest refused to abandon their jobs despite the dangers.

But Manila said yesterday it would charter ferries to evacuate its nationals, a day after a Filipina nurse was kidnapped and gang raped in Tripoli.
Hundreds of Filipino doctors and nurses in Tripoli's Medical Centre walked out in protest at the savage attack on their colleague, unleashing anarchy in the hospital.
Families were forced to transfer sick relatives to private clinics, a hospital official said.
"Hospitals could be paralysed" in the event of the mass-departure of Philippine nationals, health ministry spokesman Ammar Mohamed said, while authorities warned of a possible "total collapse" of the health care system.
A medical official said the ministry was trying to persuade the Filipinos to stay.

Complicating the situation further are the difficulties faced by Libyan staff as they struggle to keep work hours.
Mohamed said Libyan doctors and carers have been struggling to reach their workplace from home because of fighting around the capital and fuel shortages.