Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has sounded the alarm over the deteriorating healthcare situation in Ethiopia’s Amhara region, where ongoing conflict, insecurity, and movement restrictions are leaving patients stranded and in critical need of life-saving care. The organization reports that thousands are unable to reach treatment in time due to violence, roadblocks, and unaffordable transportation costs.
MSF’s health facility in Abdurafi—established to serve vulnerable communities in Western Amhara—is among the most severely affected by the region’s instability. The facility provides essential care for snakebites, kala-azar, and co-infections like HIV and TB. However, the conflict has paralyzed outreach efforts, disrupted medicine supply chains, and forced the suspension of ambulance referrals.
Among those impacted is Dawit Hailu, a 30-year-old farmer bitten by a snake in a remote area near Abdurafi in May. With no safe or affordable transportation, he was carried for 11 kilometers by friends before finally reaching the MSF clinic on a motorbike at midnight. “I knew the risks of snakebites, but the insecurity made travel nearly impossible,” he said.
Many patients share similar stories of delayed treatment due to insecurity, checkpoints, and exorbitant transportation costs. “Some people are paying up to 5,000 birr ($40) for a ride that normally costs 200 birr ($1.45),” said Moses CM Malual, MSF’s project coordinator. “This places care completely out of reach for many.”
MSF treated 61 kala-azar patients and 363 snakebite victims between January and May 2025. The organization remains the sole provider of treatment for these conditions in northwestern Amhara. As the seasonal spike for both illnesses approaches, MSF is warning of a potential surge in preventable deaths unless urgent access is restored.
Patients like Semere Sisay, diagnosed with kala-azar in 2023, continue to suffer. “I’ve been sick six times since then. MSF is the only one giving me the medicine I need,” he said. “My wife and children fled to Sudan because of the war. I’m going through this alone.”
Deputy medical coordinator Ana Banda added that the consequences of delays are becoming more severe. “People are arriving later and sicker. We’re seeing advanced cases that could have been treated earlier. In some situations, it becomes too late.”
Access to Gondar University Hospital—where critical patients are usually referred—has been cut off due to road closures and reports of harassment at checkpoints. MSF was forced to suspend ambulance services due to security threats. “Our teams can no longer safely refer patients to higher-level care, putting more lives at risk,” the organization noted.
The challenges extend beyond medical access. Patients making the treacherous journey to clinics report robbery, beatings, and assault along the way. MSF has also been forced to halt community health education and mobile outreach programs that once played a crucial role in reaching isolated populations.
“Without urgent intervention, we risk a deadly surge in preventable deaths,” Banda warned. “We need unrestricted access for humanitarian workers, a steady supply of medicines—especially anti-venoms and kala-azar treatment—and the restoration of safe transport routes.”
As the rainy season and harvest period bring increased risk of snakebites and disease, MSF is urging both national authorities and the international community to prioritize humanitarian access and support for Ethiopia’s increasingly fragile health system.
