Tunis, 5 May 2016 – The international humanitarian community is stepping up its support to southern Libya’s only neonatal Intensive Care Unit (ICU), after the deaths of twelve newborn babies over the past month.

“Libya’s collapsing health system has claimed more precious lives,” said Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Humanitarian Coordinator for Libya Mr. Ali Al-Za’tari. “Libya’s hospitals are desperately understaffed and under-resourced, and preventable deaths due to infection and poor resources are on the rise. We have repeatedly called for funding to support a system stripped of medical expertise and lacking essential equipment like sterilization kits.”

Families in the south of Libya rely on the hospital in Sabha for critical infant and maternal health services. Short of experienced personnel, the hospital is struggling to provide quality of care, with insufficient neonatal incubators and a high rate of bacterial infection placing susceptible infants at risk.

“There are twelve families in the south of Libya grieving the loss of their newborns, when simple assistance might have prevented their deaths,” said Mr. Al-Za’tari. “It is a great shame that we are seeing the health standards of Libya decline to this point and that 12 newly born children had to die due to lack of basic facilities. As humanitarians, there is more we can do if given the resources.”