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MSF Field Lead Annie Fjord Describes Aid Challenges in Gaza, Nigeria and Yemen at Iowa City Forum
Summary
Annie Fjord, a Danish nurse and Médecins Sans Frontières field medical team lead, recounted missions treating lead-poisoned children in Nigeria, running cholera and malnutrition centers in Ethiopia and Yemen, and operating amid severe constraints in Gaza, telling an Iowa City audience that "silence can certainly kill."
Annie Fjord, a Danish nurse and field medical team lead for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), told an Iowa City audience on Sept. 17 that humanitarian operations in conflict zones face mounting barriers to treating the sick and protecting local staff.
Fjord spoke at the Iowa City Foreign Relations Council, recounting deployments to Nigeria, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Yemen and Gaza and describing on-the-ground responses to mass lead poisoning, cholera outbreaks and severe malnutrition. "Silence can certainly kill," she said of MSF's duty to bear witness to atrocities and shortages.
Fjord described a northern Nigeria outbreak in which many children were dying; blood tests linked the deaths to high lead levels from informal gold processing that brought contaminated dust into homes. MSF teams treated cases and led…
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