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Health Minister Reida El Oakley also said that Islamic State was
"like a cancer" in the North African country that must be fought
with support from the international community.
Libya's internationally recognized parliament voted on Monday to
reject a unity government proposed under a United Nations-backed
plan to resolve the political crisis and armed conflict.
"I think the international community, including the U.N., should
divorce the humanitarian needs of the Libyan people away from any
political dialogue," El Oakley told a news briefing. "Anything short
of that I would consider to be a crime. It is a crime, actually.
"At least 60 to 70 percent of our hospitals are shut down or totally
dysfunctional. We have more than 80 percent of our staff in highly
skilled areas like intensive care and emergency rooms and operating
rooms that have left," he said, referring to the period since the
2011 revolution that topped Muammar Gaddafi.
Libya has become a regional concern since Islamic State militants
gained ground there and called for foreign recruits, especially from
North Africa.
"ISIS is like cancer, it is growing fast. And cancer, the earlier
you treat it, the better you have a chance to control it," said El
Oakley, a heart surgeon.
"Despite that, the U.N. and international community said we will not
help you fight ISIS, we will not help you to have your medicine for
your poor people or have a shelter for the 3 million people who have
lost their homes unless you sign a paper that you are okay between
east and west you have a political agreement. This is wholly
inappropriate."
An estimated 1.9 million people in the country of 6.3 million are in
need of "urgent health assistance", said Dr. Jaffar Hussain, the WHO
Representative in Libya.
"Medicines are not available, the health work force is not
available, the hospital is bombed, electricity is not there, fuel
for the generator is not there, or it is in a conflict area which
people have fled - the doctors, nurses and paramedics," Hussain
said.Programs for tuberculosis, malaria, chronic diseases, mental
health and HIV/AIDS are "increasingly becoming dysfunctional," he
said. "We have an acute shortage of life-saving medicines."
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"We will end up with massive outbreaks, we will end up with
mortality and morbidity rates rising exponentially and we will end
up compromising the health and the future of the people of Libya if
you don't act now."
The WHO is seeking some $50 million for Libya this year, including
vaccines for children and insulin for diabetes.
"The member states are willing to support, but they are waiting for
a government of national accord to be in place," Hussain said.
"The humanitarian response should not wait for that, it should not
be linked to the political process, it may take weeks, it may take
months, it may take years. We don't know."
(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay, editing by Larry King)
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