'Call it genocide': MSF paediatrician on UK's Gaza inaction

The National

4 days ago

During an MSF event in Glasgow, titled Hope: An Evening of Storytelling, Dr Prudence Jarrett recounted her time working as a paediatrician on assignment in the Central African Republic (CAR).
Dr Jarrett, who has worked in both CAR and Afghanistan with MSF, spoke of a case where she and her Central African colleagues treated a child with severe malaria with an emergency blood transfusion. Despite the severe lack of resources, she said watching the young girl wake up filled her with hope.
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Speaking exclusively with The National, Dr Jarrett discussed the mental toll of working as a paediatrician with MSF, what brings her hope as she works on the frontlines, and what the UK Government should be doing to stop the genocide in Gaza.
'I think the mental toll was harder in Central African Republic because in Afghanistan, you're working with people who are really skilled in a healthcare system that is at least semi-functional, even if it's not got what it should have', the paediatrician explained.
'In CAR, you're working with people who don't have the training they need, who work in a healthcare system which is absolutely not functioning to a level which is adequate for what patients require.
'Every tiny thing that you're trying to do is a struggle. Getting something stapled is a struggle. Getting something printed is a struggle, let alone getting medication at the right time to the right person.'
With high temperatures, intermittent electricity and little time for recuperation, Dr Jarrett noted that the combination of factors made her work in CAR 'much harder' than in Afghanistan.
The crisis in CAR is largely fuelled by a civil war which broke out in 2013, as well as the lasting effects of colonialism. Despite the baseline level of mortality being well above the emergency threshold for humanitarian response, the crisis often receives little to no media attention.
'There has to be a curiosity about places not in the spotlight or which are not of geopolitical significance to the country you're reporting from', Dr Jarrett said.
The triage center at Bambari's hospital, Central African Republic (Image: Adrienne Surprenant/Collectif Item)
On Gaza, where 12 MSF doctors have been killed amidst the genocide, she said there are 'different levels which [the UK Government] should and are not' responding.
'One is that you have to call this a genocide. MSF's calling it a genocide, and I think we all need to recognise that this is what is going on there and that means we have obligations legally to respond and prevent that from continuing', she explained.
'There was a court case recently in the UK which concluded that it was okay for the UK to sell parts of F-35s to Israel and I hope that is going to be overturned
'We should not be sending arms to a state that is committing genocide. Stopping arms sales is a basic way of demonstrating that you're not supporting what is happening.'
'From a healthcare oriented point of view, it's clear that there are breaches of international humanitarian law that are affecting the provision of healthcare in Gaza – the bombing of hospitals, targeted killing of healthcare workers, ambulances, and so on.
'This absolutely should not be allowed to continue.'
Dr Jarrett said she wants to see the UK Government accepting more Gazan children for medical treatment. At present, only two cases have been allowed. Neither received care through the NHS, but rather through private healthcare facilities funded by charity organisations.
MSF called on the UK to accept more Palestinians earlier this week as other European nations have increased the number of ill and injured admitted for treatment from the enclave.
She said: 'We must put pressure on the UK Government to extend their benevolence which they offer to other people coming from other countries to children of Palestine who need proper treatment for their war related injuries or treatment for chronic disease or life threatening disease.
'They cannot get this in Gaza and they cannot get in Israel because they're not allowed to go there.
'I think we have an obligation to open this channel for people to come and receive healthcare in our country.'
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Despite having worked in conditions which seem bleak, Dr Jarrett said being surrounded by compassionate people who are willing to put the work in and help those living through dire humanitarian crises fills her with hope.
The paediatrician, who said she originally went into the field because it's a 'joy' to work with 'unbelievably resilient' children, explained that seeing her patients returned to their families was a 'great privilege'.
She continued: 'What I get hope from is the fact that not only in MSF, within MSF, but also outside in other spaces in the UK, there are a lot of people who care about people in other parts of the world.
'They're prepared to get organised, get active, and do things about it, and it might feel that that doesn't work a lot of the time, but the more that we connect with each other and work together on these things, the more we can do and the more hope and solidarity that we build between each other.'